Defamation suit by Govt to save Siddaramaiah’s CM chair, says Union Minister Pralhad Joshi

Union Food & Public Distribution Minister Pralhad Joshi on Monday asked chief minister Siddaramaiah if the Constitution of India allowed his government to withdraw the freedom of speech from people after the Congress regime decided to slap a defamation suit on the Opposition BJP for running what it called a campaign woven around "lies and distorted facts."

Joshi, in a post on X, slammed the government for its decision which, he said, showed the regime’s attempts to cover up its omissions and commissions. Siddaramaiah, the Dharwad MP said, seems to have resorted to this desperate move to save his own chair...Karnataka will never tolerate this Hitler style of governance, he said.

Opposition leader R Ashoka said the Congress party which rode to power by running a false "40% commission" campaign on the BJP, was now trying to silence the Opposition with the threats of cases as it discharged its role as a responsible Opposition party.


The Opposition party erupted in anger and stepped up its attacks on the government after the government accused it of running a campaign against it with "false allegations" after the Congress regime completed two years.

The party attacked the government after it appointed two government prosecutors to handle the case at a local court. The government, by notification, accused the BJP of releasing information based on distorted facts and lies in the print and visual media, while deciding to launch defamation proceedings.

The BJP said the defamation suit would not deter its fight against the government over its "corrupt governance and price rise," which would continue as before. The party said the Congress had been threatened by the BJP's charge-sheet on the recent increases in prices of various items and services.