RaGa to lead city protest on Aug 5
Strap: The protest will take place at Freedom Park; party leaders are expected to submit a memorandum to State EC
OB Bureau
Congress leader and Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, will lead a protest in Bangalore on August 5 against alleged large-scale voter fraud in Karnataka. The protest will take place at Freedom Park, Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar announced midweek.
Following the demonstration, party leaders are expected to submit a memorandum to the State Election Commission, highlighting alleged irregularities in voter rolls during the recent Assembly and Lok Sabha elections.
“We must protect the rights of voters and uphold the Constitution. Rahul Gandhi believes that beginning this movement in Karnataka will lend it strength. Many irregularities occurred during the elections, and our leaders will bring them to light,” Shivakumar said.
The protest, Shivakumar clarified, will be held in accordance with state regulations and court directives. Congress representatives from all blocks across Karnataka have been invited to participate.
Responding to criticism over the party’s delay in raising objections, Shivakumar said the Congress had indeed filed complaints, but the Election Commission did not act on them. He cited specific cases from Mahadevapura and Gandhinagar constituencies, where thousands of new voters were allegedly added to the rolls.
Senior party leaders, including AICC General Secretary Randeep Singh Surjewala, reviewed preparations at Freedom Park ahead of the protest.
Home Minister G. Parameshwara confirmed that the state police have drawn up a standard operating procedure to manage the protest. “We don’t expect a massive crowd, but party workers and leaders from surrounding districts will join. All necessary precautions have been taken. Rahul Gandhi is under Z+ security cover,” he said.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has said that Rahul Gandhi has evidence of large-scale fraud in Bangalore.
Speaking to reporters at the Hilton Hotel in Bengaluru, the Chief Minister said the alleged irregularities occurred during the recent Lok Sabha elections, particularly in the Mahadevapura and Rajajinagar Assembly constituencies.
CID rubbishes Rajanna’s ‘honeytrap’ tale
OB Bureau
The Karnataka CID has found no merit in Cooperation Minister K.N. Rajanna’s explosive “honeytrap” allegations, terming them “baseless” in its final report submitted to the state government this week.
The report, reportedly forwarded to the Union Home Ministry, caps months of political turbulence triggered by Rajanna’s sensational claim on the floor of the Assembly in March — that three separate attempts had been made to honeytrap him.
The minister’s statement had set off a storm in the legislature, with the Opposition BJP staging protests and demanding an impartial probe. Eighteen BJP MLAs were suspended after dramatic scenes in the House, where Marshals were forced to evict them. The suspension was revoked recently.
Media reports suggest that CID investigators found no supporting evidence to back Rajanna’s claims. According to officials, the minister neither recognised the alleged individuals involved nor could he produce any material proof.
Rajanna reportedly told CID officials that during one incident, a woman tried to hold his hand, prompting him to slap her and eject her from his residence. However, the CID found no corroborating CCTV footage or visitor entry records to validate the sequence of events.
The case had taken a political turn when murmurs emerged about the possible involvement of Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar. At the time, Rajanna — a known loyalist of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah — had demanded Shivakumar’s removal as KPCC president and offered to take up the role himself. He had also suggested that the CM post be handed over to a Dalit leader if a change were made.
Following the public spat and growing internal friction, Rajanna abruptly went quiet, ceasing his attacks on Shivakumar.
Asked about the CID’s findings, Home Minister Dr G. Parameshwara said on Thursday that he had not yet seen the report. “I don’t know what’s in the report. The issue was raised by the media, and now the CID has responded,” he told reporters.
Meanwhile, Leader of the Opposition R. Ashoka lashed out at the minister for making unsubstantiated claims. “Rajanna made these allegations on the floor of the House and claimed to have evidence. If true, he must urge the CM and Home Minister to hand the case to the CBI. If not, he must apologise to the people of Karnataka for misleading the Assembly,” Ashoka said.
Deputy CM Shivakumar, who was previously linked to the controversy, distanced himself from the issue. “I don’t know who filed the complaint or how the investigation was done. I’ve heard about the report only through the media,” he said.
The CID’s clean chit may have drawn a line under the controversy, but questions remain over why such serious claims were aired in the Assembly without evidence.
Congress made B’lore ‘Jihadi city’: BJP
OB Bureau
A day after the Gujarat Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) arrested a suspected female Al-Qaeda operative from Bangalore, the BJP launched a scathing attack on the Congress-led government, alleging that it had turned the Garden City into a “Jihadi City”.
The arrested woman, identified as 33-year-old Shama Parveen Ansari, is a native of Jharkhand and had been residing in the Manorayanapalya area of the city. According to police sources, she had moved to the city three years ago and was staying with her brother, a software engineer.
Leader of the Opposition in the Karnataka Assembly, R. Ashoka, said that the law and order situation in the state had “completely collapsed” due to what he called the “appeasement politics” of the Congress government. He demanded to know whether Home Minister G. Parameshwara would take any action on the matter.
Responding to the allegations, Parameshwara said that central agencies were handling the case and had not shared prior information with the state government.
“There have been previous reports suggesting Bangalore might be a sleeper cell hub. Now one such module has been uncovered. The arrested woman is not from Karnataka, and we were not informed in advance,” he said.
The Home Minister added that such developments were not unique to Karnataka. “These activities occur across various states. Individuals often arrive from other regions and are hard to trace. For instance, in the MDMA drug case in Mysuru, the accused had entered the city only 20 days before being arrested. Similarly, in this case, central agencies acted first.”
He further clarified that whenever state agencies encounter suspects from other states, they act accordingly. “In our investigations, we have arrested individuals from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar as well. In a federal system, information-sharing is essential, and we cooperate fully when briefed,” he said.
The Gujarat ATS, which arrested Ansari, alleges that she was actively strengthening Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) by promoting the group’s ideology on social media, particularly Instagram. She had reportedly shared videos of a known Al-Qaeda operative and encouraged others to join extremist activities.
Digital evidence, including a laptop and mobile phones, was seized during the raid. Police sources said that Ansari’s arrest came after links were found between her and four other AQIS operatives previously apprehended by the Gujarat ATS. Following her arrest in Bangalore, she was produced before a local court and taken to Gujarat on a transit warrant.