Contractor’s suicide: Karnataka BJP demands CBI probe and minister Priyank Kharge’s ouster

BJP state president B Y Vijayendra said an impartial investigation could not be expected from the state police, alleging that “the entire police department around Gulbarga district is under the clutches of the Kharge family”.

The suicide of Panchal on December 26 has snowballed into a controversy after the contractor’s purported suicide note named Raju Kapanur, considered close to Kharge.

The BJP demands came even as the state government handed over the investigation of the suicide to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the police.

According to Vijayendra, the suicide note also exposed a conspiracy to “hire supari killers from Maharashtra to kill BJP and Hindutva leaders” of North Karnataka such as Basavaraj Mattimudu, Gulbarga Rural MLA who was a candidate against Kharge in the 2023 elections; Manikant Rathod; and firebrand Hindutva seer Siddalinga Swamy of the Andola Mutt.

“The state police cannot conduct an impartial probe against the influential Kharge family,” he said at a news conference, demanding Chief Minister Siddaramaiah hand over the case to the CBI by January 3, 2025.

Vijayendra released multiple photos of Kapanur with Kharge, his father and Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Siddaramaiah and Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar, claiming that Kapanur was the “right-hand man” of the Kharge family. He allegedly harassed Panchal demanding bribes to secure a tender worth Rs 2 crore, leading to the contractor’s suicide.

Vijayendra said the case was an addition to a series of suicides caused by corruption under Congress rule in Karnataka. He listed six instances, including the cases from May 26, 2024, when Chandrashekaran P, an employee of the Karnataka Maharshi Valmiki Scheduled Tribes Corporation, died by suicide over irregularities at the state-run body, and from November 4, 2024, when Rudranna Yadavannavar, a second-division assistant at the Belagavi tahsildhar’s office, killed himself allegedly following harassment by the personal secretary of Women and Child Development Minister Laxmi Hebbalkar.

Meanwhile, Home Minister G Parameshwara said that Kharge’s name was not mentioned in the death note. “It is not right to make baseless allegations against a minister. To bring out the truth, we have decided to hand over the investigation into the case to the CID.”

“There is no need for Priyank Kharge to resign. His name is being dragged unnecessarily and resignation is being sought,” Parameshwara said, defending his cabinet colleague.

Kharge’s office also released a December 27 letter, addressed to the CM and Parameshwara, in which the minister had sought a CID investigation following the contractor’s death.

The minister has said that he was not connected to the case. At a news conference on Sunday, Kharge said he was not named anywhere in the note. The transaction between Panchal and the accused in the case was related to a loan he had sought for the earnest money deposit required for a tender.

“What is my role in the transaction between the two sides?” he said, adding that the suicide note should undergo forensic assessment to verify whether it was genuine.

Kapanur and five other Congress leaders are accused in the case booked over Panchal’s suicide.