Karnataka BJP MLA’s son cuts cake with iPhone, slammed for ugly wealth display

Mangalore Today News Network / News18

Koppal, Sep 03, 2021: Of all the things in the world with which to cut a cake, a Karnataka BJP MLA’s son chose an iPhone. Suresh, son of Kanakagiri (Koppal) MLA Basavaraj Dadesugur, was seen in a video doing the rounds on social media, “cutting" his birthday cake using an iPhone. He could be seen sliding the phone across two rows of cakes, icing and all. The second row has each cake spelling out each letter of his name “Suresh", as his friends cheered him on. The News Minute reported that the MLA’s son had celebrated his birthday at Ballari district’s Hosapete, where he had taken his friends in a BMW. There were also videos of him riding an Audi and eating at a restaurant in Ballari. The video has drawn sharp criticism from members of the Congress. “This is ugly display of wealth. When lives and livelihoods are at stake, many are struggling for one square meal, such ostentatious display of wealth by the MLAs family is an insult to the poor and deprived classes in the constituency," Deccan Herald reported Congress leaders as saying.

 

The Deccan Herald report said that the MLA defended his son and saw no problem with his actions. According to it, the MLA said Suresh had spent his own “hard-earned" money. He went on to add that Suresh might have used the phone instead of “his hands" due to concerns pertaining to the Covid-19 pandemic. The News Minute report cited local news to state that the MLA’s behaviour bore sharp contrast to what it had been before the elections. Dadesugur had crowdsourced his funding for the same from residents of his constituency. But after his election win in 2018, he had bought several high-end cars. The Deccan Herald report added that locals did not think he cared much about their concerns post the election win.

 

#Karnataka#BJP MLA Basavaraj Dadesugur son Suresh uses iPhone to cut the cake on his birthday. Draws flak for ugly display of wealth. @IEBengaluru @IndianExpress @IExpressSouth pic.twitter.com/xECw4Aik9d

— Kiran Parashar (@KiranParashar21) September 3, 2021

Last year, a similar report involving another Karnataka BJP MLA had come to light. In complete violation of lockdown orders, BJP’s Turuvekere MLA Masale Jayaram had celebrated his birthday in a grand style with hundreds of villagers, including children, in attendance. People of Gubbi taluk came in large numbers to the Idagaru Government School to wish their legislator amid a 21-day lockdown that had been imposed to control the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.