Video | "Give Your Application And Leave": Karnataka MLA's "Arrogance" At Public Grievance Meet

"Just give your application and leave." That was the message from a Karnataka Congress MLA to a constituent who had turned up at a public grievance programme hoping to be heard.

A programme meant to take the government to the people instead turned into an embarrassing display of impatience and arrogance, with a video showing Pavagada MLA HV Venkatesh appearing visibly irritated as a resident tried to explain his grievance.

The video has since gone viral, triggering outrage among residents and social media users, with many questioning how a programme meant to hear people's problems could leave them struggling to even finish speaking.

#WATCH | Karnataka Congress MLA HV Venkatesh allegedly misbehaved with and threatened a citizen who came with a grievance during the Praja Seva public grievance program in YN Hosakote, Tumakuru district.The MLA told the citizen to just give his application and leave. pic.twitter.com/Igq3XYKViY

The incident took place at YN Hosakote in Karnataka's Pavagada taluk during the inauguration of the Praja Seva Abhiyan, an initiative by Chief Minister DK Shivakumar, under which MLAs are expected to meet people directly and listen to their grievances.

But when a local resident approached Venkatesh with a complaint, the interaction quickly turned tense.

Ramajjinappa, a resident of the area, had come with a petition seeking protection of around three acres of government land at the Sante Maidan in YN Hosakote. He alleged that the land had been encroached upon and houses had been constructed on it.

As he attempted to explain his grievance, the MLA allegedly lost patience.

In the video, Venkatesh is purportedly heard telling Ramajjinappa to simply submit his application and leave.

"Just give your application and leave," the MLA is heard saying.

When the resident appears to continue speaking, the MLA responds: "Go out. You're speaking again."

The MLA is also allegedly heard warning the resident against talking back.

The exchange has drawn criticism precisely because of the setting. A public grievance programme is supposed to give citizens a chance to put their problems directly before their elected representatives. Instead, the viral video appears to show a resident being asked to leave before he could fully make his case.

For the resident who came armed with a petition over alleged encroachment of public land, the promise of being heard appears to have ended with a curt instruction: submit the application and leave.