Karnataka Minister D Sudhakar booked under Atrocities Act, BJP demands his resignation
Bengaluru(PTI): Karnataka Minister D Sudhakar and three others have been booked by the police here based on a complaint by a woman alleging atrocities against her and her family and an assault on her daughter over a property dispute, police officials said on Tuesday.
Officials said the victim and her family reside at the disputed property which falls under the limits of Yelahanka police station.
The minister and his associates have been accused of trespassing and forcefully trying to evict the victim and her family though the matter of property dispute is pending in court.
A purported video of the Planning and Statistics Minister, who has now been booked under Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities Act) 1989 and various sections of Indian Penal Code (IPC), in circulation on social media shows the minister allegedly abusing and threatening some people.
In the FIR filed on September 10, the victim has alleged that on Saturday, the minister along with some real estate developers and others reached the disputed property at Yelahanka when no one was at home. The minister had come along with 35-40 people in the group. They allegedly barged into the property.
Using JCB, the accused party tried to demolish the building and compound wall on the disputed property. When the victim and her family came to know about the incident, they rushed to the spot. When she and her family members questioned them about their actions, they tried to overpower them and used casteist remarks against them, she alleged in the complaint.
The complainant alleged that they also physically assaulted her daughter and other family members, the FIR added.
"Based on the complaint received, we have registered the FIR. All the allegations are being looked into and the matter is under investigation," a senior police officer said.
Following the incident, Sudhakar is said to have met Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Home Minister G Parameshwara and discussed the case.
Stating that the land dealing was lawfully done several years ago, the minister said the atrocities case has been filed against him "all of a sudden". "It is completely false", he said.
"There is no question of me abusing any caste," said the minister. "A conspiracy has been hatched against me as I am a minister now. There is law and court and I am open to any inquiry."
Meanwhile, BJP leader and former Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai has demanded Sudhakar's resignation, and urged the police to not succumb to any pressure and deal with it as any normal case.
Responding to the allegations, Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar called it a false case and ruled out Sudhakar's resignation.
"It is a private issue. I have checked with Sudhakar and others. It is a false case, nothing has happened, it is a civil dispute. They are trying to misuse the act (Atrocities act) they shouldn't have done it. It can be misused against anyone tomorrow," he said.
"Everyone including Sudhakar has to respect the law, officers have explained that it is a false case," he said.
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Congress using hijab issue to pacify minority anger, alleges Karnataka LoP R Ashoka
Bengaluru: Leader of Opposition in the Assembly R. Ashoka has accused the Congress government of using the hijab issue to placate what he described as discontent among minority voters after the Davanagere by-election.
In a post on X on Wednesday, Ashoka alleged that the state government, instead of addressing issues such as price rise, corruption, farmers’ distress and law and order, was attempting to retain its minority vote base by reviving the hijab issue.
Referring to the 2022 dress code introduced by the BJP government, which prohibited hijab in schools and colleges, Ashoka said the Karnataka High Court had upheld the policy and emphasised the importance of discipline in educational institutions.
He questioned the Congress government’s move to revisit the issue and asked whether setting aside the court-backed policy to benefit one community could be described as secularism.
Ashoka further alleged that while the government was willing to permit hijab, it continued to prohibit saffron shawls.
He accused the government of dividing students on religious lines rather than treating schools and colleges as spaces of equality.
Drawing a comparison with Mamata Banerjee’s government in West Bengal, Ashoka claimed that excessive appeasement politics had harmed the state and warned that the Congress in Karnataka could face a similar political response.
He said voters in Karnataka would teach the Congress a lesson for what he termed “vote-bank politics” and for compromising constitutional and judicial principles.
