Bengaluru, May 23 Union Minister H. D. Kumaraswamy on Friday said that a minister in the Siddaramaiah Cabinet was "responsible" for state Home Minister G. Parameshwara landing in "trouble".
Notably, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) conducted raids on institutions linked to Home Minister Parameshwara in connection with a gold smuggling case.
Speaking to the media in New Delhi on Friday, Union Minister Kumaraswamy claimed that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah is aware of the minister in his cabinet who ensured that Parameshwara faces trouble.
Union Minister for Heavy Industries and Steel Kumaraswamy made the comments indirectly targeting Deputy CM D. K. Shivakumar, according to sources.
"It was this minister who provided information about the actress Ranya Rao bringing in the gold," H. D. Kumaraswamy said.
The Union Minister added that Parameshwara had attempted to organise a Dalit convention to signal that he is all set to become the next Chief Minister.
"In retaliation, a Congress leader who did not like Parameshwara's move ensured that he got into trouble. Doesn't Chief Minister Siddaramaiah know all this?" Kumaraswamy asked.
He alleged that the information given to the ED came from a Congress leader, who is eagerly waiting to become the Chief Minister, indirectly targeting Deputy Chief Minister Shivakumar.
"Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has the intelligence wing at his disposal. He knows everything," the Union Minister added.
Despite these developments, Congress leaders, including National General Secretary and Karnataka In-charge Randeep Singh Surjewala, and MLC B. K. Hariprasad, have continued to attack the Central government over the ED raids on Parameshwara-owned institutions, the Union Minister noted.
"All of this happened because of an influential leader within the Karnataka Congress unit," he reiterated.
Commenting on the decision to rename Ramanagara district as Bengaluru South district, Kumaraswamy again targeted Deputy Chief Minister Shivakumar. "They are changing the district's name to increase their land prices," he alleged.
Union Minister Kumaraswamy pointed out that earlier, Bengaluru Rural district was created to foster development by integrating regions like Doddaballapura and Devanahalli. "But this new district has been carved out only to inflate land prices," he claimed.
"They won't remain in power forever. A change is coming, and I am confident about that," he said, again aiming his criticism at Shivakumar.
"They've formed a Special Investigation Team (SIT) over land I purchased 40 years ago and are targeting me. But 50 per cent of their lands are government properties. I know what they've done. Who encroached upon Dalit land in Shantinagar?" Kumaraswamy said.
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