Bengaluru, 08 Oct (H.S.):

The Congress has dismissed Union Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy’s allegation that former Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah was removed from office through a “sting operation”, describing the claim as baseless and politically motivated.

Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee Media and Communications Department president Ramesh Babu accused Kumaraswamy of attempting to create confusion within the Congress by suggesting that a covert operation had influenced its leadership decisions.

Babu said Siddaramaiah’s political standing and public support did not depend on secret manoeuvres or conspiracies. Decisions within the Congress, he maintained, were taken through established procedures laid down by the party.

Rejecting Kumaraswamy’s account, Babu said the Union minister was presenting an allegation without any basis and using it to cast doubts on the Congress’s internal functioning.

He also hit back at Kumaraswamy by referring to controversies involving audio recordings, telephone tapping and sting operations that, he alleged, had surrounded the Union minister’s own political career.

Babu described it as ironic that Kumaraswamy should lecture others on political morality when he himself had faced controversies relating to such practices. He cited those episodes while challenging the credibility of the Union minister’s remarks.

The Congress leader further alleged that Kumaraswamy’s statements were intended to please his alliance partner, the BJP, and consolidate his position in the Union government.

Rather than constructing imaginary conspiracies about the Congress, Kumaraswamy should first put his own political house in order, Babu said.

He asserted that the Congress remained united and that attempts to manufacture divisions within the party through such statements would fail.

Babu reiterated that the party’s leadership decisions followed its prescribed organisational processes. He rejected the suggestion that Siddaramaiah’s removal could be attributed to a clandestine exercise and maintained that Kumaraswamy’s remarks were aimed at creating political uncertainty rather than offering a credible account of events surrounding the leadership change.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Arun Lakshman