JD(S) leader H D Kumaraswamy has demanded the immediate arrest of Karnataka Planning and Statistics Minister D Sudhakar and his ouster from the state Cabinet after an SC/ST atrocity case was registered against him. "What is happening under this government, which came to power promising to protect Dalits? A minister is harassing a Dalit. Such a person should not be allowed to continue in the Cabinet," he said. The Yelahanka police have registered an FIR against the minister after a video of him allegedly threatening the complainant, Subbamma, and others went viral. The argument was allegedly over a property dispute between the complainant and a real estate firm in which Sudhakar is a director. Kumaraswamy trained his guns at Chief Minister Siddaramaiah over the issue, accusing him of pressurising officials who filed a complaint against the minister. "He (Sudhakar) should be immediately arrested and removed from the Cabinet," he said. The BJP slammed Sudhakar for his alleged behaviour, stating he acted like a 'rowdy'. "Siddaramaiah's Cabinet is filled with caste abusers and goondas," Karnataka BJP said in a post on X. The party also demanded his arrest and removal from the state Cabinet. Earlier in the day, Home Minister G Parameshwara said that an FIR was registered and an investigation was on. Sudhakar has maintained that he was innocent and the case was politically motivated. He said that the issue was pertaining to a 10-15 year old dispute and an FIR was filed against him over the issue in 2008, too.
