BENGALURU: The Congress on Friday suspended Rajiv Gowda, its Sidlaghatta candidate in the 2023 Assembly polls who had issued death threats to Sidlaghatta City Municipal Council (CMC) commissioner Amrutha Gowda.
The party’s disciplinary committee, headed by ex-Union minister K Rahman Khan and Nivedit Alva as convener, said it was convinced of the gravity of the incident. Following this, action was initiated against Gowda, who had not replied to the show cause notice, seeking an explanation for allegedly abusing Amrutha over phone. Since the issue broke out, Gowda is on the run and police filed an FIR against him on January 14.
The Karnataka High Court on Friday refused to quash the FIR against him. He had allegedly abused Amrutha for removing banners he had put up to promote Housing Minister Zameer Ahmed Khan’s son Zaid Khan-starrer Kannada movie Cult, which was released on Friday.
He had also warned of consequences if she did not accede to his diktats. BJP and JDS lashed out at Gowda for his behaviour, and at the Congress for failing to take action. LoP in the Council Chalavadi Narayanaswamy urged that Gowda be booked under the Goonda Act.
The District Judge has posted the matter for orders on the bail application on Saturday.