BENGALURU: Five days after making explosive claims in the Karnataka legislative assembly that he and 48 other political functionaries cutting across party lines had been honey-trapped, cooperation minister K N Rajanna Tuesday formally submitted a petition with home minister G Parameshwara, seeking legal action against those involved.
Clarifying his earlier statement in the assembly, Rajanna denied ever saying that judges were among the victims.
Rajanna handed over a three-page petition detailing the sequence of events. Sharing details of the alleged honeytrap attempt targeted at him, Rajanna said at a joint press conference with Parameshwara: “I received a woman twice in my Bengaluru office, along with a man. The woman claimed she was a lawyer and wanted to speak to me in person on some issues.”
“I cannot recall her name but if paraded before me, I will be able to identify her,” he said, adding that his residence lacked CCTV cameras.
However, Parameshwara, who had promised in the assembly a high-level inquiry after a formal complaint was filed, was evasive on Tuesday, citing procedural constraints. Since the issue was raised in the assembly, Parameshwara said that it was speaker U T Khader who was the “custodian of the discussion”, and his assistance was necessary to initiate any further action.
Reacting to this, Khader said: “I am not aware of the home minister’s statement, but if the points raised by Rajanna are a property of the House, then the assurance by the home minister on the floor of the House is also property of the House. I shall look into the minister’s statement and discuss it further.”
Parameshwara chose to describe Rajanna’s submission as a “representation” rather than a formal complaint, saying that any police action would require directives from the speaker.
Congress functionaries said Rajanna’s complaint, coming just before the CM completes 30 months in office, has put the party in a difficult situation. A minister said: “If an investigation is taken to its logical conclusion and names tumble out, it could dent our credibility. But if an investigation is not initiated, it would become a bigger talking point.” A party functionary said that at present, only one name (Rajanna’s) has been declared. “Now, even if we consider half the number of what Rajanna claimed have been targeted and their names are revealed, it would become a big scandal for the party to deal with.”
