Bengaluru: Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar on Friday rubbished former Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy's allegations about the screening of adult films and said that the latter has lost his mental balance.

Responding to reporters at the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee office in Bengaluru on Sunday, Mr Shivakumar said, "I used to run touring talkies named after Indira Gandhi. Not just one, but I had three to four movie tents at Dodda Alahalli, Harobele and Kodihalli. In fact, the tent at Hunesahalli is running even today."

The media can go to that theatre and check for themselves what kind of movies are being screened there, he quipped.

Asked why Mr Kumaraswamy is targeting him so frequently, he said, "He is a big man; let him cast aspersions. He is talking in singular; perhaps that is his culture. But I won't do that; I am giving respect to the position he held."

The Congress and the Janata Dal-Secular have been at odds with one another ever since the latter joined hands with the Bharatiya Janata Party.