He reportedly linked the controversy to the Congress’ defeat in the recent elections to four Legislative Council seats, arguing that the sting episode had affected the party’s prospects.
BENGALURU: Amid the controversy over the alleged sting operation targeting him, former chief minister Siddaramaiah on Monday met Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and AICC general secretary (organisation) K C Venugopal in New Delhi and is learnt to have expressed serious concern over the damage to his public image and the direction of the police investigation.
According to sources, Siddaramaiah told the party leadership that the political confrontation between Chief Minister D K Shivakumar and Union Minister H D Kumaraswamy was damaging his reputation, although he had no role in the dispute. He reportedly complained that instead of identifying those who recorded the video and investigating their motives, the police were questioning others.
During his interaction with Gandhi, Siddaramaiah is said to have expressed disappointment that his name was being dragged into a controversy even after he had made it clear that he was no longer in the race for the chief minister’s post. He reportedly said he had conveyed his decision not to contest the next Assembly election and questioned who was behind the alleged political conspiracy.
Sources said Siddaramaiah told Gandhi that the video had caused considerable damage to him personally as well as to the party. He is also learnt to have warned that if the campaign against his reputation continued, he might stay away from campaigning in the next Assembly election.
He reportedly linked the controversy to the Congress’ defeat in the recent elections to four Legislative Council seats, arguing that the sting episode had affected the party’s prospects.
Siddaramaiah is said to have sought clarity on who recorded the video and the motives behind it, while expressing dissatisfaction with the way the investigation was progressing.
Earlier, he met Venugopal and discussed the political developments in Karnataka. Sources said he raised objections to the direction of the investigation and alleged that the focus was on people other than those who had recorded the video.
However, speaking to reporters later, Siddaramaiah said he had discussed Karnataka’s development, political developments and organisational matters, but not the sting controversy.
He also said he had no information about the Police Commissioner’s statement concerning the alleged involvement of Kumaraswamy’s Delhi residence in the phone handover linked to the sting video.
Devaraj B Hirehalli
Courtesy : TNIE
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