Manikanth Rathod, a BJP leader from Chittapur, has said that Minister for Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Priyank Kharge is indulging revenge politics against him by misusing his power and getting a series of police cases booked against him one after the other.
Addressing a media conference in Kalaburagi on Tuesday, Mr. Rathod, who was defeated by Mr. Kharge in the Assembly elections in Chittapur constituency, also criticised police officers for what he termed as being puppets in the hands of Mr. Kharge and booking cases against him without verifying facts.
“Mr. Kharge appears to be interested not in focusing on development of Chittapur and Kalyana Karnataka but in suppressing his political opponents and critics by misusing his power as a Minister. The police officers in the district are acting as his puppets. They act upon on complaints lodged by the followers of Mr. Kharge and book cases against me and my supporters. They simply ignore the complaints we lodge against Mr. Kharge. The police officers must understand that they will be answerable in a court of law,” Mr. Rathod said.
When asked about specific cases, he said that his supporter Ashwathram, who had approached the High Court of Karnataka seeking the rejection of Mr. Kharge’s nomination papers in the Assembly elections, was booked on a false charge of using DJ sound system late night. Mr. Kharge is behind the case, he added.
“Though the elections are over, the police are booking cases against me and issuing notices. The police did not take any action on our complaints. If our complaints are not entertained at police stations, we will approach court and file private cases against not just Mr. Kharge but also the police officers who are working hand-in-glove with Mr. Kharge,” he said.
To a question, Mr. Rathod said that he is ready to contest the Lok Sabha elections from Kalaburagi constituency on BJP ticket if the party high command chooses him as its candidate.
