Bengaluru, Jan 1: The BJP leader Chalavadi Narayanaswamy on Wednesday charged that Minister "Priyank Kharge's name is found at three places" in the suicide note written by contractor Sachin Panchal but Chief Minister Siddaramaiah defended the minister for want of evidence.

Narayanaswamy, Leader of Opposition in the Karnataka Legislative Council, said the Chief Minister has been saying that Kharge’s name is not mentioned in the suicide note written by contractor Sachin Panchal, which was wrong.

"Minister Priyank Kharge’s name is mentioned at three places in the seven-page suicide note. You demand documents. Here is the one. What else should we produce?” Narayanaswamy told reporters here.

Chief Minister said there was no document to prove and hence the question of removing Priyank Kharge would not arise, Narayanaswamy noted.

ALSO READ: No evidence against Minister Priyank Kharge in contractor suicide case, says CM Siddaramaiah

“We know that you don’t have the guts to remove him because the Minister’s father Mallikarjun Kharge is the Congress president. If you touch Priyank then he would uproot you. You are afraid of losing power. You are glued to your chief ministerial position,” the BJP leader alleged.

He said everyone was initially doubting the seven-page suicide note written by Panchal but now the FSL report has confirmed that the letter was written by the civil contractor himself.

It is confirmed that this suicide note is not fake but the original one, Narayanaswamy said adding that the government has to answer to Panchal’s suicide.

The BJP leader said there is a threat to Panchal’s family and, especially five sisters of Panchal. He also alleged that Panchal suicide case has a honey trap angle too. He reiterated BJP's demand for a CBI probe in the case.

Panchal died by suicide by lying before a moving train in Bidar district. In his suicide note, he alleged that Raju Kapanur pestered him for rupees one crore, a charge which Kapanur has denied.

Panchal also alleged that Kapanur hired contract killers to eliminate BJP MLA Basavaraj Mattimud and, two other top BJP leaders in Kalaburagi and a Lingayat pontiff.

The BJP alleged that Kapanur is Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Minister Priyank Kharge's close aide.

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Islamabad (PTI): US Vice President JD Vance said on Sunday that the Islamabad Talks with Iran failed as the two sides could not bridge the gulf of differences despite hectic efforts spreading more than 21 hours.

Vance addressed a press conference here after “substantive discussions” in direct talks between the two sides -- the first since 1979 at this level --mediated by Pakistan.

“We have been at it now for 21 hours, and we have had a number of substantive discussions, that’s the good news,” Vance said.

“The bad news is that we have not reached an agreement,” he added.

“We have made very clear what our red lines are, what things we are willing to accommodate them on and what things we are not,” the US vice president said, adding that the Iranian delegation had “chosen not to accept our terms”.

He was asked to elaborate the main sticking points of what did the Iranians reject but he refused to go into specifics.

“I won’t go into all the details because I don’t want to negotiate in public after we negotiated for 21 hours in private. But the simple fact is that we need to see an affirmative commitment that they will not seek a nuclear weapon and that they will not seek the tools that would enable them to quickly achieve a nuclear weapon,” Vance said

He said stopping Iran from getting a "nuke" was the “core goal of the US president, and that’s what we have tried to achieve through these negotiations”.

Vance also praised Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Chief of Army Staff Field Marshal Asim Munir, terming them “incredible hosts”.

“Whatever shortcomings were in the negotiations were not because of Pakistanis, who did an amazing job and really tried to help us and the Iranians bridge the gap and get to a deal,” he said.

Separately, the spokesperson for Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Esmaeil Baqaei, in an X message also confirmed that the two sides failed to make a deal and “numerous messages and texts have been exchanged between the two sides".

“In the past 24 hours, discussions were held on various dimensions of the main negotiation topics, including the Strait of Hormuz, the nuclear issue, war reparations, lifting of sanctions, and the complete end to the war against Iran and in the region,” he wrote.

“The success of this diplomatic process depends on the seriousness and good faith of the opposing side, refraining from excessive demands and unlawful requests, and the acceptance of Iran’s legitimate rights and interests.”

Baqaei also expressed appreciation to the “government and the warm-hearted and noble people of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan for hosting the negotiations and their benevolent efforts in advancing this process”.