Priyank Kharge alleges bid to use KPSC probe to target Cong leaders, takes swipe at Kumaraswamy
Bengaluru: Karnataka Minister for Home and IT/BT Priyank Kharge on Monday alleged that a Union Minister was exerting pressure on the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led central government to use central investigative agencies against him and his Cabinet colleagues, using the Karnataka Public Service Commission (KPSC) recruitment investigation as political cover.
In a sharp statement amid the ongoing sting operation row, Kharge, without naming anyone, appeared to indirectly refer to Union Minister for Heavy Industries and Steel H.D. Kumaraswamy.
“Whispers in Delhi’s corridors of power are that a Union Minister is desperately pressuring Modi Sarkar to weaponise the IT and ED against my Cabinet colleagues and me, using the KPSC investigation as political cover,” Kharge said.
He further alleged that an individual associated with the RSS was attempting to use the Enforcement Directorate to pressure the accused in the KPSC recruitment case into falsely implicating Congress leaders and him.
“The RSS’s newest Group D recruit is also reportedly attempting to use the ED to pressure all accused to falsely implicate Congress leaders and me in the KPSC recruitment case,” Kharge alleged.
Taking a further swipe at the unnamed Union Minister, the Congress leader said the “extremely hard-working” Minister was allegedly not prepared to “go down alone” and was attempting to drag his own coalition partners into the controversy.
“It appears the ‘extremely hard working’ Hon’ble Minister is not prepared to go down alone. In his desperation, he seems determined to drag his own coalition partners down with him,” Kharge said.
The remarks come amid an escalating political confrontation over the sting operation case and the KPSC recruitment investigation, with allegations and counter-allegations being exchanged between the ruling Congress and its political opponents.
Union Minister and JD(S) leader H.D. Kumaraswamy alleged that Priyank Kharge was complicit in a recruitment scam involving Assistant Executive Engineers (AEE) under the Rural Drinking Water Supply Scheme during Kharge’s tenure as Rural Development and Panchayat Raj (RDPR) Minister in the Siddaramaiah government.
Priyank Kharge strongly rejected the claims, stating that the KPSC—not the RDPR department—holds custody of OMR sheets and manages the examination process.
In a major twist, Commissioner of Police, Bengaluru City, Seemanth Kumar Singh, said on Sunday that investigators have found evidence suggesting that a mobile phone was exchanged at the residence of Union Minister for Heavy Industries and Steel H.D. Kumaraswamy in Delhi in connection with the alleged sting operation case.
Union Minister for Heavy Industries and Steel H.D. Kumaraswamy has launched a scathing attack on Bengaluru City Commissioner of Police, Seemant Kumar Singh, and the Karnataka government after the Commissioner referred to a link involving his Delhi residence during the investigation into the sting operation case against former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah.
An angry Kumaraswamy asserted that nobody could touch him and announced he would make several revelations on Monday.