BENGALURU: The political slugfest over contractor Sachin Panchala’s death by suicide continued on Thursday with the BJP mounting pressure on Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and the Congress leadership to drop RDPR Minister Priyank Kharge from the cabinet and hand over the case to the CBI. The minister rubbished the BJP’s allegations.
“The minister’s name was mentioned in the death note as his close aide is the key accused. But since he is the son of the AICC president, Siddaramaiah is trembling to get his (Priyank’s) resignation,” Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly R Ashoka told media persons in Bengaluru. He said the BJP will hold a massive protest rally in Kalaburagi on Saturday demanding Priyank’s resignation.
Leader of Opposition in the Legislative Council Chalavadi Narayanswamy said Kharge’s name is mentioned in the death note, and they would appeal to the CM, senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and AICC president Mallikarjuna Kharge to remove him from the ministry. Senior Congress leaders in the state are getting calls from New Delhi asking them to defend Priyank.
Narayanswamy said those responsible for Sachin’s death must be exposed, but the Siddaramaiah government is protecting them. The BJP has sent copies of the death note to senior Congress leaders, including Rahul Gandhi, demanding action against Priyank.
Meanwhile, Priyank hit back at BJP leaders, accusing them of making baseless allegations to impress their party central leaders and tarnish Mallikarjuna Kharge’s name.
“The BJP is intellectually bankrupt, the LoP in Council Chalavadi Narayanaswamy has been attacking Priyank to secure his position,” alleged former MLC and KPCC media division chairman Ramesh Babu.
He said BJP leaders are walking around with their heads down after getting court orders in many sex scandals and several others are out on bail on serious charges of caste abuse. Narayanswamy, who does not have the moral strength to ask for the resignation of such BJP leaders, is now preaching to the Congress, Babu said.
