Overview
- Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar told his Cabinet to be cautious about covert recordings and reportedly showed a file naming around five ministers he said were being targeted during a meeting on Tuesday.
- Deputy CM G. Parameshwara and Minister H.C. Balakrishna confirmed the caution came from intelligence inputs but Minister Dr Sharan Prakash Patil said no such discussion took place.
- Union Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy accused Shivakumar of having used a sting to force Siddaramaiah’s exit from the chief ministership, an allegation the Karnataka Congress called politically motivated and baseless.
- Shivakumar says he was himself targeted after becoming chief minister, that he has photographs and documents, and that he has informed the police about the attempts.
- No recordings or documents tied to the claims have been publicly verified and the row has revived Karnataka’s history of sting exposures while Opposition leaders press charges of hypocrisy and the state’s Home Minister blames central agencies for trying to destabilise the government.