Kumaraswamy slams Kharge Jr over ‘blackmail cover-up’, dares Govt to arrest him

Bengaluru: Union Minister for Heavy Industries and Steel HD Kumaraswamy on Thursday mounted a fierce offensive against Karnataka Minister Priyank Kharge, accusing the DK Shivakumar-led administration of shielding blackmailers and presiding over a "jungle raj."

Reacting sharply to reports that he could be summoned for questioning in connection with an alleged sting operation case, the JD(S) leader dared the state government to arrest him and challenged Chief Minister DK Shivakumar and Kharge to order an investigation headed by a sitting judge of the Karnataka High Court.

"Is the Home Department your father's property? Have I taken anything from your family?" Kumaraswamy said at the JD(S) state headquarters, JP Bhavan. "You protect people who indulge in blackmail without any shame, yet you threaten to summon Kumaraswamy for questioning when he raises the issue. If the CM himself has said someone tried to trap him, why is the government protecting those behind the sting operations?"


The union minister accused the dispensation of selective action, questioning the government's ties with the journalist involved in the episode. "Do you not know what the CM and this journalist have been doing together over the past five years? The government protects him and refuses to take him into custody. But on mere suspicion, you want to act against Kumaraswamy?" he asked, warning that attempts to intimidate JD(S) cadre would not be tolerated.

Kumaraswamy also turned his guns on Kharge over alleged recruitment irregularities during his earlier tenure as Minister for Rural Development and Panchayat Raj (RDPR). Claiming to hold documentary evidence regarding the recruitment of 24 Assistant Executive Engineers (AEE), he said: "Priyank Kharge speaks at length about transparency in public life. What is his explanation for the irregularities in the selection of these 24 AEEs? He has not answered that to date.