Kumaraswamy alleges 'cover-up' of Ballari firing, seeks CBI probe
Bengaluru (PTI): Union Minister H D Kumaraswamy on Monday alleged a systematic conspiracy by the Karnataka government to "cover up" the recent Ballari firing incident and demanded a CBI probe into the death of a Congress worker.
He also claimed that the victim’s body was illegally subjected to two post-mortem examinations.
Citing what he described as a "collapse of law and order" in Karnataka, he demanded that the case be handed over to the CBI.
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Addressing a press conference at the JD(S) State office, JP Bhavan, Kumaraswamy said the issue was not just the killing of a party worker but the alleged attempts by the government to shield those responsible.
He accused Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar and State Home Minister G Parameshwara of making contradictory statements and "failing" to act decisively.
“As per the information available to me, Congress worker Rajashekhar’s body was subjected to post-mortem examination twice,” Kumaraswamy said.
He suggested that the second autopsy was conducted as part of an effort to "alter the narrative" surrounding the shootout.
He questioned the need for a second autopsy. “What were the findings of the first post-mortem report? What does the second post-mortem report say? Why was a second post-mortem conducted, and who exerted pressure for it?”
Kumaraswamy alleged that pellets were found during the first examination and that a second post-mortem was used to falsely fix responsibility on Gangavathi BJP MLA G Janardhana Reddy.
Calling the state government’s probe "meaningless", the Union Minister said conflicting claims by the Chief Minister, Deputy Chief Minister and Home Minister had eroded public trust.
“Under these circumstances, what kind of investigation can this government conduct?” he asked, reiterating his demand for a CBI inquiry.
Kumaraswamy also questioned the selective suspension of officials. “If the SP is at fault, aren’t the Additional SP and IG also responsible?”
Alleging political bias in the handling of the case, Kumaraswamy charged the government with "protecting" the accused, including a close associate of Ballari MLA Nara Bharath Reddy.
According to him, law and order has completely collapsed in the state.
Tension flared up in Ballari on January 1 after clashes allegedly broke out between supporters of BJP MLA Janardhana Reddy and Congress MLA Bharath Reddy over the installation of banners.
Rajashekhar was killed in the firing and police have detained three private security guards of Bharath Reddy's supporter Sathish Reddy.
The police have arrested 26 people in connection with multiple incidents of violence, including stone-pelting and firing.
The BJP has alleged that this was an attempt to eliminate Janardhana Reddy as petrol bombs were also ferried to the venue, right next to his house in Ballari.
Karnataka Home Minister Parameshwara said the state government was mulling handing over the matter to the CID.
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BJP’s Nitin Nabin slams TMC over infiltration, SIR row
Kolkata (PTI): BJP president Nitin Nabin on Wednesday launched a scathing attack on the TMC government in West Bengal, accusing it of protecting illegal infiltrators, targeting Hindus and playing “dirty politics” to derail the ongoing SIR of electoral rolls.
Nabin alleged that there was a deliberate attempt by the TMC to turn West Bengal into Bangladesh and claimed that while the Election Commission was determined to weed out infiltrators and fake voters, the ruling party was committed to protecting them.
“The TMC government wants West Bengal to merge with Bangladesh. Under its rule, the demography of the state is being changed, posing a threat to national security,” he said.
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Dismissing the TMC’s allegation that the EC was harassing common people through the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise, the BJP president said it was the state administration that was intimidating citizens to malign the poll panel.
“It is not the Election Commission that is harassing people. It is the TMC government’s SDOs and BDOs who are doing it to create fear and discredit the EC,” he alleged.
Nabin also accused the TMC government of being a protector of infiltrators and claimed that lawlessness had replaced governance in the state.
“Factories have been shut, and enterprises of corruption and lawlessness have been opened. Women are not safe under the TMC rule, and Hindus are being tortured,” he alleged.
Asserting that the BJP was fighting against what he described as the misrule of the TMC in West Bengal, Nabin said the party would continue efforts to curb infiltration, electoral manipulation and administrative intimidation in the state.
