BENGALURU: Congress leader DK Shivakumar, who termed the ED chargesheet a “political conspiracy”, is likely to face a number of hurdles in the run-up to the 2023 Karnataka elections. “I have not done anything wrong; I have full faith in the courts and legal system,’’ he told reporters. He claimed he had heard of the chargesheet from the media, and had personally not received a copy. Asked what it contained, he sarcastically remarked, “Besides politics, what else is there in the chargesheet?’’
Politically, the chargesheet could deliver a body blow to the Congress aggression in the run-up to state polls, with the party seeking to target the BJP as “corrupt” but will now have to play cautiously. Political analyst BS Murthy said, “The timing is perfectly aligned with the run-up to the state polls. Headlines from the DK Shivakumar case chargesheet will compete with corruption scandals of the PSI selection, and other scams which have embarrassed the government.’’
Claiming that he had been targeted for helping late Congress General Secretary Ahmed Patel during the latter’s election to the Rajya Sabha in 2017, Shivakumar recalled how the BJP had “nakedly attempted” to poach Congress MLAs from Gujarat. The party leaders were upset that he had kept them in a safehouse in Bengaluru Rural district, out of their reach.
Shivakumar had kept them safe before Patel’s elevation to the Rajya Sabha, but they were subsequently poached. He said the raids took place soon after that. “My friends and I were targeted, and they tried to pass off money belonging to others as mine. This is the price I am paying for helping Ahmed Patel.” Patel had gone on to won the cliffhanger poll.
The timing of the chargesheet is also suspect, as the state goes to polls in about nine months. “The BJP government vindictively abuses constitutional institutions to sabotage its opponents. I have been filing my income-tax returns every year, but the case was given to the CBI. The then Advocate-General had himself maintained that this was not a case worthy to be investigated by the CBI,” he said.
The chargesheet should have been filed within the stipulated 60 days of arrest. But since it was not filed, Shivakumar had got bail. “They are filing it now, after three years. When BJP has not spared its own partymen, will it spare me? They want political opponents to surrender, or will finish them off.” Asked about ministers CN Ashwath Narayan and Sunil Kumar saying that Shivakumar will go back to jail, he said, “I will not respond to anyone’s statement.’’