Siddaramaiah's son blames Congress members amid sting operation row in Karnataka

Karnataka minister Yathindra Siddaramaiah on Friday alleged that Congress members were involved in a purported sting operation targeting his father and former chief minister Siddaramaiah, as the party ordered a show-cause notice to a spokesperson allegedly seen in the footage.

Yathindra said the video related to the alleged operation appeared to show a Congress woman seeking a party ticket from Puttur for the Assembly election, suggesting this could have been the motive behind the operation.

“From the videos, we know that our own party people were involved. There’s a mediaperson involved, too. We need to find out if this was done on their own, or if someone else was behind it,” he said, adding that the investigation should establish who was responsible.

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Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee president B K Hariprasad said he had directed that a show-cause notice be issued to the person seen in the video, without naming party spokesperson Kripa Alva.

Former chief minister Siddaramaiah has termed the allegations in the video “totally concocted and false”, alleging an attempt to blackmail him and damage his reputation. He said he has approached a civil court, which issued an injunction against the video’s publication, and filed a police complaint seeking a fair investigation.

The Bengaluru Cyber Crime Division has registered a case involving allegations of identity theft, forgery and extortion.