Bangaluru: Karnataka Opposition Leader Chalavadi Narayanaswamy, BJP MLCs C.T. Ravi, N. Ravikumar, and 10 others have been booked for allegedly conducting an unauthorized poster campaign targeting Rural Development Minister Priyank Kharge. The campaign linked Kharge to the suicide of Bidar-based contractor Sachin Panchal, claiming harassment by the minister’s associates.

The High Grounds police registered the FIR based on a complaint by PSI Shashidhar Vannur. The BJP leaders were accused of causing public inconvenience by assembling unlawfully on city roads to paste the posters, which carried slogans such as “Minister Priyank Kharge Responsible for Death of Contractor” and “Supari Sponsor Kharge.”

The BJP launched the campaign to intensify pressure on the state government, demanding Kharge’s resignation. However, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah dismissed the demands as politically motivated, citing the absence of Priyank Kharge’s name in Sachin Panchal’s purported death note.

“The BJP’s demand is driven by malice and baseless allegations. There’s no justification for Kharge’s resignation,” Siddaramaiah said. He also criticized the BJP’s call for a CBI probe, highlighting that the party, during its tenure, refrained from transferring cases to the CBI.

The BJP leaders were briefly detained during the poster drive and later released. Despite this, the controversy has intensified the political confrontation between the ruling Congress and the opposition BJP in Karnataka.

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