In first reaction to honey-trap claims, Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah says ‘will surely get a probe conducted’

The controversy erupted in the public domain on Thursday after Rajanna himself raised the issue in the Assembly. “There were no names mentioned (by the cooperation minister). We will conduct a high-level probe,” Siddaramaiah said. An inquiry probe would be ordered since “it is the responsibility of the government to protect all elected representatives irrespective of party affiliations”, he added.

Siddaramaiah was forced by the Opposition BJP to respond to the honey-trapping issue ahead of presenting his reply to a debate on the state budget he presented on March 7. BJP leader Sunil Kumar demanded a judicial probe with the Leader of the Opposition R Ashok claiming that even judges had been honey-trapped.

BJP leader Araga Jnanendra argued that there has been no police complaint registered over 12 hours after Rajanna raised the honey-trapping issue in the Assembly.

Parameshwara, who assured the house of a high-level probe on Thursday, reiterated his stand on Friday, saying a probe would be ordered after discussions with Siddaramaiah.

With the BJP alleging that the honey-trap attempts were part of the internal battle in the Congress for the chief minister’s post – this has resulted in the creation of camps of MLAs allied to different leaders – Parameshwara said that Siddaramaiah was the leader for all Congress MLAs.

While BJP leaders trooped into the Well of the House, expressing dissatisfaction with the statements of the chief minister and home minister, Siddaramaiah went ahead with his reply on the budget debate by ignoring the protests.

Sources in the Congress party said that the developments around the attempts to honey-trap a senior minister had been communicated to the party high command by a senior party leader from Karnataka who has the confidence of the central leadership. The Congress leader communicated the developments to a senior All India Congress Committee general secretary after being updated by a section of party leaders in Karnataka, sources said.

The honey-trapping saga

The issue of honey-trapping of legislators was raised by BJP MLA Basanagouda Patil Yatnal with a statement that there were rumours of many Congress ministers being targeted by organised gangs.

Following this remark, Cooperation Minister K N Rajanna told the Legislative Assembly that he had been the target of a recent attempt at honey-trapping and that as many as 48 leaders from all parties had been targeted.

“It is not just leaders in the state but leaders at the national level, cutting across parties, have been targeted. There needs to be an investigation,” Rajanna said, demanding the creation of a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to conduct a probe.

Rajanna is a vocal opponent of Karnataka Congress president and Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar. He has been demanding that the Congress president be changed by citing the party policy of ‘one person, one post’, in an apparent reference to Shivakumar holding the posts of deputy CM, Bengaluru development minister, water resources minister and state party president.

Home Minister G Parameshwara, who was in the House, responded by stating that the government would order a high-level probe into the allegations.

Earlier, state Public Works Department Minister Satish Jarkiholi had also stated that two ministers in the government had been the target of honey-trapping attempts.

When the issue was raised before Karnataka Congress president and Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar, he told the media, “Let them file a police complaint.”

In 2021, BJP leader Ramesh Jarkiholi was forced to quit as a minister after he was allegedly honey-trapped by a gang. The woman in the incident filed a case of rape. The matter is still pending trial in court with an SIT indicating a case of honey-trap and not rape. Ramesh had alleged after the incident that his rival, Shivakumar, was probably behind the incident.