BENGALURU: Former Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah said on Tuesday that he has taken the alleged sting operation targeting him to the notice of the Congress high command, and that he hopes to meet party leader Rahul Gandhi during his visit to New Delhi on November 1.
Siddaramaiah, a member of the Congress Working Committee, made the remarks while speaking to reporters in Bengaluru. He made it clear that no appointment with Gandhi has been fixed so far, but said he would like to raise the matter with the senior leader when he travels to the national capital to take part in a protest against the Special Intensive Revision of the electoral rolls.
"Everything has been taken to their (party high command) notice. What is there in the sting operation? It is a false and fabricated story," Siddaramaiah told reporters, dismissing the allegations contained in the purported video at the centre of the controversy.
The Congress veteran said he had already discussed the issue with the party's national general secretary (organisation), K. C. Venugopal. Asked whether he would formally take the matter to the high command, he replied that the leadership was already aware of it and that he had personally informed Venugopal.
Siddaramaiah also insisted that the police investigation into his complaint must be fair and thorough. Responding to a question on whether he was satisfied with the progress of the probe, he said the investigation was still under way. "The investigation is in progress. It is not a question of being satisfied or dissatisfied. The police are investigating. I insist that the investigation should be carried out fairly," he said.
The controversy erupted after videos carrying allegations against Siddaramaiah were uploaded on social media platforms, including YouTube, late last month. The former chief minister moved court and secured an injunction restraining the publication or broadcast of what he described as a defamatory video. He also lodged a police complaint seeking an investigation into the origin and circulation of the material.
Following the complaint, the police arrested several people, including two members of the Janata Dal (Secular)'s social media team. Investigators also questioned Kripa Alva and others allegedly involved in making or circulating the video. The Central Crime Branch of the Bengaluru police is examining the case, with its focus on how the video was circulated and the network behind it.
The row has taken a sharply political turn, with competing claims about who orchestrated the alleged sting. Siddaramaiah has named Kripa Alva in connection with the defamatory post. His son, Yathindra Siddaramaiah, has alleged that some Congress leaders were behind the episode, including a woman who was aspiring for a party ticket to contest the Assembly election from Puttur in Dakshina Kannada district.
Yathindra has said the purported operation was aimed at tarnishing his father's image.
The Janata Dal (Secular), on the other hand, has accused the Congress government in Karnataka of shielding the real conspirators. Union minister and JD(S) second-in-command H. D. Kumaraswamy has alleged that the government was protecting Congress leaders who masterminded the sting operation while innocent JD(S) workers were framed.
The charge has been firmly rejected by the Congress camp, which maintains that the video itself is fabricated and that the law should take its course against those who created and spread it.
The Bharatiya Janata Party has also weighed in on the controversy. Senior BJP leader R. Ashoka, who is the Leader of the Opposition in the Karnataka Assembly, accused the Congress of using what he called dirty tricks and targeted Rahul Gandhi over his "Mohabbat ki Dukaan" slogan. Ashoka alleged that governance in the state had been paralysed by the infighting, and claimed that Congress ministers were using covert recordings and blackmail to settle scores within the party.
The Congress has dismissed these charges as politically motivated.
For Siddaramaiah, the episode comes at a politically sensitive moment. As one of the Congress's most prominent leaders in Karnataka, he remains a central figure in the party's state unit even after demitting the chief minister's office. His decision to escalate the matter to the high command signals that he wants the party leadership to treat the controversy not merely as a personal attack, but as an issue with wider implications for the organisation in the state.
According to sources cited by one news outlet, Siddaramaiah is likely to meet Rahul Gandhi on November 2, a day after the planned protest in Delhi. The former chief minister himself has been more circumspect, saying only that he would meet Gandhi if possible during the visit.
The distinction matters: while the leadership is aware of the issue, no formal meeting has been scheduled yet, and any discussion will depend on Gandhi's availability during a busy day of protest-related engagements.
The November 1 protest, which brings Siddaramaiah to Delhi, is itself significant. The Congress has been campaigning against the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls, arguing that the exercise risks disenfranchising legitimate voters. The party's top leadership, including Gandhi, is expected to lead the demonstration, and Siddaramaiah's presence underlines the Karnataka unit's participation in the national campaign.
Meanwhile, the police investigation continues on two parallel tracks: identifying those who produced the video, and tracing how it was amplified online. Officials have indicated that the probe is examining the role of social media accounts and messaging networks that carried the material after it first surfaced.
The arrests so far, including those of the JD(S) social media team members, suggest that investigators believe the circulation was organised rather than accidental, though the police have not yet publicly presented a complete account of the conspiracy.
Legal experts note that the case straddles two domains: criminal law, where the police must establish who created and circulated allegedly defamatory material and with what intent, and civil law, where the injunction obtained by Siddaramaiah restrains further publication.
The outcome of the investigation could therefore have consequences well beyond the immediate political slugfest, setting a precedent for how such covertly recorded material is treated when it enters the public domain.
Within the Congress, the episode has also revived discussion about internal discipline. Yathindra's claim that members of his own party were involved has embarrassed the state unit, even as senior leaders have closed ranks behind Siddaramaiah in public.
The high command's handling of the matter, including any meeting between Siddaramaiah and Gandhi, will be watched closely for signals about how the leadership intends to manage factional tensions in Karnataka ahead of future electoral battles.
For now, Siddaramaiah's message is twofold: the video is false, and the investigation must be fair. By placing the matter before the high command and seeking a meeting with Gandhi, he has ensured that the controversy will remain at the centre of Karnataka's political conversation in the days ahead. Whether the police probe delivers the clean and conclusive answers he is demanding, however, remains to be seen.
(Reporting based on ThePrint, Deccan Herald and The New Indian Express.)