The BJP has termed the incident of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah raising his hand against a police officer after losing his cool as a sign of frustration over the possibility of him having to step down as per the purported power-sharing pact.

In a statement on Tuesday, Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly R. Ashok said, “The Chief Minister has begun to show his anger on officials now as he has started realising that he would have to relinquish his post.” He said, “Mr. Siddaramaiah, who describes himself as peace-loving, tries to assault the police officer.”

Defending the BJP workers’ action of waving a black flag during the Congress programme addressed by the Chief Minister, Mr. Ashok said the BJP workers had resorted to protest as the Chief Minister had allegedly spoken “in favour of Pakistan” with respect to the terror attack. “It is not possible to stop the BJP from protesting. It is a common thing in democracy. But the Congress and the Chief Minister are finding it difficult to tolerate,” he said.