Tumkur:
A woman was beaten up by police today for showing black flag to the Congress President Sonia Gandhi in Tumkur, during the birthday celebration of Siddaganga Math head.
A young woman tried to disrupt Mrs Gandhi's speech during the ceremony. As she began her speech, the woman, seated among the audience, suddenly rose and waved a black flag demanding Scheduled Caste (SC) status for her community Madiga Dandora. The police immediately swung into action and beat her up. She was then taken away from the venue even as some of her supporters shouted slogans.
The Congress President is on a two-day tour to Karnataka. She attended the birthday celebrations of the Tumkur Mutt Swami who turned 105, days ago. Her visit is seen as an attempt by the Congress to galvanise party workers in the state for the polls ahead of 2013.
The Siddaganga Mutt Swami is the most influential guru among the Lingayat community, which forms about 17 per cent of Karnataka's population. The Lingayats had distanced themselves from Congress since 2004 as the BJP began generous donations to Lingayat mutts.
Sonia Gandhi also met over 1,000 Congress delegates at Tumkur.
(With PTI inputs)