BENGALURU: Karnataka Home Minister Priyank Kharge on Friday pushed back against Union Minister HD Kumaraswamy, who has demanded his resignation over alleged irregularities in Karnataka Public Service Commission (KPSC) recruitment processes.
Responding to Kumaraswamy’s questions about the whereabouts of IAS officer Gyanendra Kumar — the former Controller of Examinations who has been linked to the recruitment probe — Kharge said he knew the officer’s location and saw no obligation to disclose it to the BJP or JDS.
“Has the IAS officer run away, or is he with us? What does Kumaraswamy know about it?” Kharge asked reporters in Bengaluru. Kharge also turned the allegations back on Kumaraswamy’s political allies, questioning who had appointed suspended KPSC Chairman Shivashankarappa Sahukar to the commission and later made him chairman.
He raised an unverified claim that Sahukar had paid Rs 200 crore to secure the KPSC president’s post, and questioned Kumaraswamy about photographs of former CM BS Yediyurappa and state BJP president BY Vijayendra at Sahukar’s residence, asking “Is it true?
These are allegations being made about by your own friends,” referring JDS’ alliance with the BJP. Kharge dismissed Kumaraswamy’s criticism directly, asking, “Who in the JDS are you to speak about my tongue?” Kumaraswamy had alleged on Thursday that Kharge gave contradictory accounts of Gyanendra Kumar’s whereabouts — first saying the officer had gone to see his ailing father after obtaining permission and would return within two days, then later saying he did not know where the officer was.
Kumaraswamy also cited a KPSC report from Kharge’s earlier tenure as RDPR Minister, claiming the commission had itself recommended postponing the appointment of candidates suspected of gaining selection through illegal means, and that Kharge protected them. Meanwhile, Congress Media Cell Chief, Ramesh Babu, too, hit back at Kumaraswamy. He alleged that the JDS leader was “eager for the politics of personal vendetta” and claimed that his repeated allegations against the state government exposed his “true colours.”
Babu also referenced past KPSC controversies involving former chairmen Gomal Bheemappa and HN Krishna, and demanded that Kumaraswamy explain alleged irregularities during his own tenure as CM, including allegations, unsubstantiated in the statement, that appointments were made through personal connections. Turning to Kumaraswamy’s political trajectory, the Congress leader alleged that his current criticism of Priyank Kharge may be aimed at defending the Sangh Parivar and the BJP, possibly to secure his position in the Union Cabinet.