The controversy over the demonstrations against former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah during his recent visit to Kodagu took a new twist on Saturday with the BJP leaders claiming that the man arrested for hurling eggs at Mr. Siddaramaiah’s car was a Congress worker.
BJP MLA representing Madikeri segment Appachu Ranjan told reporters that his inquiries with partymen had revealed that Sampath, the man arrested by the police for throwing eggs at Mr. Siddaramaiah’s car in Guddehosur in Kushal Nagar, was a Congress worker. He said the accused worked in the construction industry as a bar-bender. However, his father Sundarmurthy was in the BJP, he added.
Meanwhile, accused Sampath appeared in television interviews and claimed that he was a follower of veteran politician B.A. Jivijaya. He said he was with the JD(S) earlier and joined Congress later following his leader. He claimed that he was upset with Mr. Siddaramaiah for his “anti-Hindu” remarks.
Congress refutes
However, Congress leaders took exception to the efforts by BJP leaders to portray the accused as a Congress worker. Kodagu’s Youth Congress leader Mithun Gowda and the party’s legal cell leader in Kodagu Ponnanna contended that the accused Sampath was a BJP worker and a close aide of Mr. Ranjan. The Congress leaders not only claimed that the accused had identified himself as a BJP follower in his social media profiles, but even displayed photographs showing Sampath posing with Mr. Ranjan. Mr. Ranjan dismissed the charges of the Congress leaders and said photographs of individuals with elected representatives and other celebrities cannot be used to prove their proximity with them.
Mr. Siddaramaiah, reacting to the BJP’s claim, sought to know why Mr. Ranjan went to the police station in the night to secure his release. “Did he (Mr. Ranjan) put a condition that he will secure his release from the police only if he (Sampath) claims he is from the Congress?” he tweeted.
‘Operation Kamala’
Remarking that BJP had proved in Madikeri that it was not restricting its “Operation Kamala” only to legislators, but was extending it even to “street thugs,” Mr. Siddaramaiah, in his tweet, asked the ruling party to send the person accused of throwing eggs to the jail if he was from the Congress instead of shielding him.
The Kodagu police said that the arrest of Sampath on Saturday has taken the total number of people arrested in connection with the protests against Mr. Siddaramaiah by waving black flags and throwing eggs to 10 by Kushal Nagar police and seven by Madikeri police.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai has said that instructions had been issued to the police department to step up security to Mr. Siddaramaiah. Speaking in Bengaluru, Mr Bommai said the government has taken seriously the threat to Mr. Siddaramaiah and promised him a thorough inquiry.
