Bengaluru/Mysuru, Oct 23 (PTI) Karnataka Minister Yathindra Siddaramaiah on Friday alleged that people from his own party, Congress, were behind a purported ‘sting operation’, aimed at tarnishing the image of his father and former chief minister Siddaramaiah.
He said the video related to the alleged operation appeared to show the involvement of a woman from the Congress who wanted a party ticket from Puttur, as well as the head of a media organisation.
“The whole thing was done to damage my father, tarnish his image, destroy his legacy and blackmail him,” Yathindra told reporters in Mysuru.
Siddaramaiah has obtained an injunction from a court against airing or telecasting a defamatory video, which was posted on a social media site.
Based on Siddaramaiah’s complaint, police detained a few JD(S) workers for posting the defamatory video on a social media site.
The JD(S) second-in-command and Union Minister H D Kumaraswamy alleged that police were targeting the wrong people while shielding those who made the video.
Yathindra claimed the video indicated the involvement of people from his party, but cautioned against blaming the entire organisation for the actions of an individual worker.
“There is a woman from our party who is involved. As she herself says in the video, she wanted a party ticket from Puttur. Prima facie, it appears that the sting operation was conducted for that purpose,” the minister, who holds the Urban Development portfolio, said.
“Just because a party worker has done something like this, it does not mean that our entire party is against us,” he clarified.
Yathindra said the investigation should establish whether those involved had acted on their own or whether others were behind the alleged operation.
“We need to find out whether these people orchestrated the operation themselves or whether someone else was pulling the strings behind them. We do not suspect anyone,” he said.
When asked if he will demand a high-level investigation, Yathindra said, “We do not want an SIT at this stage. We have confidence that the investigation being conducted by the police will be thorough and proper. If we find that it has not been conducted properly, we will raise the demand for a different agency then,” he said.
He said his father had been informed about the money allegedly received in connection with the matter and that Siddaramaiah had asked Chief Minister D K Shivakumar and Home Minister Priyank to ensure a proper investigation and arrest those responsible.
Yathindra said the allegations had understandably caused distress to his father, who had spent 40 years in politics without facing such a stain on his reputation.
Congress state president B K Hariprasad said he has ordered issuing notices to those party workers who were seen in the video.
“If anyone from the Congress party was involved in this sting operation, as you are suggesting, the video has now surfaced publicly. We have already instructed that a show-cause notice be issued to the person concerned. Once the response comes in, we will take appropriate action,” Hariprasad told reporters in Bengaluru.
When asked to name those behind the sting operation, Hariprasad said there are agencies to investigate it and asked people to let them do their job first.
Terming sting operations despicable acts carried out by some people to settle political scores out of vengeance, he said he has consistently maintained that such things should not happen.
When reporters pointed out that Union Minister H D Kumaraswamy has expressed his desire to meet Siddaramaiah and console him, the Congress state chief said the former chief minister is not a weak person.
“Siddaramaiah has as much courage as Kumaraswamy, if not more. We will face this politically,” he added.
Hariprasad also said that if there are evidences that Congress members were involved, he would take action against them. PTI GMS ADB
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