A day after his teenaged son Nikhil landed himself in a controversy over a brawl in a hotel in Bangalore, Karnataka Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy on Friday sought to play down the incident, saying, "sometimes these things happen. Younger generation... going by the standard of life in Bangalore... within the purview of friends. Sometimes, these things will happen."
"Till now, I have not discussed anything with him," he said when asked whether he had spoken to Nikhil about the incident involving the brawl with the Empire Hotel staff in Bangalore on Thursday after they refused to serve food to him and two others in the early hours.
Nikhil, who received injuries, has lodged a complaint with the police alleging he was beaten up by the hotel staff following an altercation over refusal to serve food.
The hotel also filed a complaint, saying three "unidentified persons" came there and ransacked it for not serving food.
Speaking to reporters separately, Janata Dal (Secular) supremo H D Deve Gowda said action would be taken according to law and officers had acted according to rules and "well in time".
"Action will be taken according to law. There is no need to influence officials", he said.
Gowda, however, attacked Congress leaders without naming them for using the incident as a "political weapon aimed at character assassination".
"There are several weapons to beat the government with, but this is not the weapon," he said.
Gowda also praised his son Kumaraswamy for issuing a "mature and balanced statement" that the law would take its own course in the incident.
The former prime minister also had a dig at a section of the media which, he said, had published the photo of his grandson Prajwal, son of PWD Minister H D Revanna, as Nikhil's photo.
Karnataka Home Minister M P Prakash on Friday dismissed as 'juvenile delinquency', the brawl in a hotel involving Kumaraswamy's teenaged son.
"Police have already registered two cases and are investigating. The law will take its own course," was the only reaction Prakash offered while replying to a volley of queries by mediapersons.