‘Reward given to a minister for speaking truth’: Union Minister Karandlaje slams Congress over Rajanna’s ‘forced’ resignation

BENGALURU: Union Minister and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Shobha Karandlaje, launched a scathing attack on the Congress party on Monday, accusing it of suppressing truth and “forcing” Karnataka Minister KN Rajanna to resign for questioning Rahul Gandhi’s allegations of “vote theft” in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

In a post on X, Karandlaje claimed that the Congress was “scared of the truth” and was hiding behind “false allegations” to silence dissent within its ranks.

“This is the reward given to a Scheduled Tribe minister for speaking the truth. Congress is scared of the truth and hides behind false allegations of vote chori. Minister KN Rajanna has been forced to resign for questioning Rahul Gandhi’s baseless vote theft claims,” she said.

She added, “Rajanna rightly asked @RahulGandhi, If irregularities occurred, they occurred under our own government. Why was there silence then?”

Earlier on Monday, the Karnataka government formally notified the removal of KN Rajanna, Minister for Co-operation, from the Council of Ministers with immediate effect.

The notification, signed by Governor Thawar Chand Gehlot and forwarded by Special Secretary to the Governor R. Prabushankar on August 11, 2025, was addressed to Chief Secretary Smt. Shalini Rajneesh, IAS.

The letter stated, “I am directed to forward herewith the original notification signed by the Hon’ble Governor for the removal of Sri K.N. Rajanna, Hon’ble Minister for Co-operation, from the Council of Ministers with immediate effect, for further necessary action.”

Meanwhile, on Monday, Congress MLA Ashok Kumar Rai downplayed the move, asserting it was “not a punishment.”

Speaking to reporters, Rai said, “This is not a punishment. The party will take a decision at some point. Of course, they (BJP) are in opposition, and they have to blame the Congress. They are doing this.”

The development came after Friday’s rally in Bengaluru by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi where he doubled down on his “vote theft” charge that “collusion” had happened between the Election Commission of India and the BJP to allow creation of over one lakh “fake votes” in the Mahadevapura Assembly Segment in the Banglaore Central Lok Sabha constituency in Karnataka in the 2024 elections to ensure a win for the BJP.

On Saturday, Rajanna, talking to reporters in Tumkuru, asked why Congress leaders “turned a blind eye” to irregularities in voter lists and kept silent when they should have raised objections.

He said, “Look, if we just start talking about such things casually, there will be different opinions. When was the voter list prepared? It was prepared when our own government was in power. At that time, was everyone just sitting quietly with eyes closed? These irregularities did take place—that’s the truth. There is nothing false in this.”

Admitting that the irregularities happened openly, he said, “These irregularities happened right in front of our eyes0ù we should feel ashamed. We didn’t take care of it at the time. That’s why we must be alert in the future.”

“In Mahadevapura, there was indeed fraud. One person was registered in three different places and voted in all three. But when the draft electoral rolls are being prepared, we have to monitor it, right?…When the draft electoral rolls are made, we must file objections — that is our responsibility. At that time, we kept quiet and now we are talking,” Rajanna said.

Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar dismissed claims by Rajanna.

“Mr KN Rajanna is totally at fault. He doesn’t know. My Chief Minister and my party high command will reply to that,” Shivakumar told reporters in Bengaluru today.

Shivakumar further said that the poll body should reply to the objections raised by Gandhi, “Whatever documents the Election Commission is asking, we are not schoolboys to reply whatever they ask. They are supposed to give us. He has given a representation and they know whatever is wrong. We have asked for some information and records. We have asked officially. I myself went to Election Commission. At no point of time my leader will take oath or answer to it. He has answered already in public.” (ANI)