BJP vs Congress in Karnataka over suicide of entrepreneurs

Bengaluru:

The suicide of a Karnataka entrepreneur and his allegations against an aide of Priyank Kharge — Karnataka minister and son of Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge — is becoming the next flashpoint between the BJP and the Congress. A BJP member of the Rajya Sabha took a dig at senior Kharge with a post on X, saying that while he is “busy saving democracy in Delhi, this is happening in his backyard, Republic of Kalaburgi”.

“His son, who acts like a great constitutional expert, has one problem after another. This is not the only thing going on, the details of Kharge Ji’s family trusts and land scams are also coming crashing down one after the other. The family trust was recently forced to return 5 acres of KIADB land in Bengaluru taken under Dalit quota in details,” Lahar Singh Siroya added in his post.

While respected Mallikarjun @Kharge Ji is busy saving democracy in Delhi, this is happening in his backyard, Republic of Kalaburgi. His son, who acts like a great constitutional expert, has one problem after another.

This is not the only thing that is… pic.twitter.com/RdOLSVopb0

— Lahar Singh Siroya (@LaharSingh_MP) December 29, 2024

A police case has been registered against Raju Kapanur, a close aide of Karnataka minister Priyank Kharge, and five others in connection with the suicide note left by Sachin Panchal, an entrepreneur from Bidar. In the note, he claimed that Raju Kapanur demanded Rs 1 crore from him, reports said.

In his memo, he also alleged that Congress leaders colluded to kill several people, including Siddalinga Swami of Andola Math, BJP leaders Manikanth Rathod and Chandu Patil.

Priyank Kharge hit out at the BJP, accusing the party of making baseless allegations against him and politicizing the entrepreneur’s death.

He said Panchal’s death note did not mention his name and added that there were financial transactions between Panchal and Kapanur that needed to be investigated.