BENGALURU: Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister, DK Shivakumar, on Friday took a dig at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over the attack on its leader Prithvi Singh stating that the latter is making “false accusations” for politics.
“The BJP is making false accusations for politics. No BJP worker was attacked. All of this is a made-up story. They are raising this issue for political purposes”, Shivakumar told reporters in Karnataka’s Belagavi.
BJP leader Prithvi Singh, was allegedly attacked with a knife, in Karnataka’s Belagavi earlier this week.
The incident, which occurred three days ago, allegedly involved supporters of Karnataka Cabinet Minister Lakshmi Hebbalkar and her brother, Congress MLC Channaraja Hattiholi.
The BJP has been accusing the ruling Congress of orchestrating the attack.
Earlier, Karnataka BJP chief BY Vijayendra said, “It’s clearly vindictive politics. Prithvi Singh is a Dalit leader from the BJP. The personal assistant and two gunmen of a present Congress MLC, who is also the brother of state minister Laxmi Hebbalkar, reached Prithivi Singh’s house yesterday and tried to murder him in Belgaum”.
“This is when the entire govt is in Belgaum as the Assembly session is on. It shows there are a lot of rowdy elements. The BJP condemns this,” he added.
Meanwhile, the Karnataka Assembly on Wednesday witnessed tumultuous scenes as BJP MLAs staged a protest on the third day of the ongoing Winter Session, demanding a response from the Home Minister in connection with the alleged attack.
The BJP MLAs, including those from Belagavi, raised concerns over the safety of their party members and insisted on an immediate reply from Home Minister G Parmeshwara during the ongoing Assembly session.
The alleged attack targeted Prithvi Singh, the personal assistant of BJP MLA Ramesh Jarkiholi.
Similar allegations were also levelled by the BJP against Channaraja Hattiholi, brother of Congress minister Lakshmi Hebbalkar.
The BJP claimed that supporters of the Congress MLC broke into the residence of Ramesh Jarkiholi’s assistant, Prithvi Singh, and assaulted him. The party demanded swift and decisive action against those responsible for the incident.
However, State minister Lakshmi Hebbalkar dismissed the allegations as baseless, saying that the incident was the fallout of a dispute over house rent.
She, however, vowed to extend full cooperation with the investigation.
An FIR has been filed against Congress leader, Channaraja Hattiholi by the Karnataka police. (ANI)