Bengaluru: JD(S) leader and Union minister HD Kumaraswamy Tuesday threw his weight behind former Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah, urging the 78-year-old to raise his voice against the growing culture of ‘sting operations’ in the southern state.
Kumaraswamy, the Janata Dal (Secular) state president and a two-time chief minister of Karnataka, said he would request Union Home Minister Amit Shah to order CBI probe into the sting operations allegedly being carried out in the state.
Kumaraswamy’s support comes a day after Siddaramaiah approached the court (not sure man, he didn’t say) seeking a stay on publishing and distributing any videos or other material that could defame him. “On social media, there was some false news spreading…that’s why I am taking a stay order,” Siddaramaiah told reporters late Monday.
Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Kumaraswamy said, “Why should he (Siddaramaiah) be scared? Why should he take a stay? Don’t you have the strength to fight? If this horrible practice has to be stopped, then he should fight back.”
The discussion surrounding sting operations has gained renewed traction, amid claims by Chief Minister DK Shivakumar that he may have also been targeted.
Kumaraswamy and his father, former prime minister H.D. Deve Gowda, have had a strained relationship with Siddaramaiah, marked by periods of mutual respect and political differences, as well as a bitter falling-out in the mid-2000s, when Siddaramaiah was expelled from the JD(S) amid a clash over chief ministerial ambitions and Kumaraswamy’s growing influence.
But on Tuesday, Kumaraswamy even urged the larger AHINDA community (Kannada acronym for backward classes, minorities and Dalits) whose cause is often championed by Siddaramaiah, to speak out against the ongoing developments on behalf of their leader.
He had earlier alleged that Shivakumar showed the Congress high command “incriminating videos” of Siddaramaiah which forced the party to replace the latter in June this year.
The Union minister clarified that he still has no “sympathy” for Siddaramaiah but was only trying to end this “disgraceful practice of sting operations”.
ಕಳೆದ ಕೆಲವು ದಿನಗಳಿಂದ ಸಾಮಾಜಿಕ ಜಾಲತಾಣಗಳ ವಿವಿಧ ವೇದಿಕೆಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಹರಿದಾಡುತ್ತಿರುವ ಸ್ಟಿಂಗ್ ಆಪರೇಷನ್ ವಿಡಿಯೋಗೆ ನನ್ನ ಹೆಸರನ್ನು ಜೋಡಿಸಿ ಅಪಪ್ರಚಾರ ನಡೆಯುತ್ತಿರುವುದನ್ನು ಗಮನಿಸಿದ್ದೇನೆ. ಇದು ಸ್ಪಷ್ಟವಾಗಿ ರಾಜಕೀಯ ದುರುದ್ದೇಶದಿಂದ ನನ್ನ ಚಾರಿತ್ರ್ಯಹನನ ಮಾಡುವ ಪ್ರಯತ್ನದಂತೆ ಕಾಣುತ್ತಿದೆ.
ಈ ಸ್ಟ್ರಿಂಗ್ ಆಪರೇಷನ್ ವಿಡಿಯೋಗೂ ನನಗೂ…
— Siddaramaiah (@siddaramaiah) October 13, 2026
However, the Gowda family’s relationship with Shivakumar has been more confrontational, only souring over past years. Kumaraswamy’s growing allegations against Shivakumar, including that the chief minister was the catalyst for all ‘sting operations’ in the state, only reinforce the rivalry between two of Karnataka’s most politically prominent Vokkaliga families.
‘Retired police officers, latest equipment’
Although the terms ‘sting operations,’ ‘CD,’ and ‘Pen Drive’ are not unusual occurrences in other states, they appear to have become part of Karnataka’s political parlance, often referring to the presence of videos of elected representatives and other legally or morally incriminating evidence.
Ever since Kumaraswamy levelled allegations of sting operations last week being carried out by Shivakumar, the issue has manifested in several ways. One Congress leader, Ganiga Ravi, flashed a pen drive on camera last Friday claiming it had all the evidence against those actually carrying out the operations.
Shivakumar, other than claiming he himself was targeted, alleged that people were “hired” to carry out these operations. Kumaraswamy himself has said that he has all the evidence to prove Shivakumar was behind the entire saga. However, all those making claims and counter-claims have refused to share any actual evidence of these so-called sting operations, just saying they would do so “at the right time”.
On Tuesday, Kumaraswamy claimed Shivakumar had roped in four retired police officers and brought in the latest equipment to a house in upscale Sadashivanagar which he alleged is being used to spy on every discussion held by his own ministers.
The Union minister also said that it was Shivakumar who had ‘orchestrated’ the entire case around former MP Prajwal Revanna, who is serving a life sentence after being convicted of rape.
Kumaraswamy said that Shivakumar was using all his resources to divert attention from the protests at Bidadi, the NICE Road “scam” and the deepening agrarian crisis in the state.
(Edited by Ajeet Tiwari)