'There's a conspiracy behind this': Ex-Karnataka minister KN Rajanna on removal from Siddaramaiah-led cabinet

Former Karnataka Cooperative Minister KN Rajanna, who recently resigned from the Siddaramaiah cabinet, said that his removal was a decision of the Congress high command and claimed there was a conspiracy behind it. His exit came following his claims of irregularities in the voter rolls during the Congress tenure.

Rajanna had acknowledged that revisions to the list were poorly monitored, pointing to duplicate entries and suspicious names in sparsely populated areas.

Speaking to reporters late at night, Rajanna said: “You all might have received the letter sent to the Governor and the response from the Governor’s office. You might be curious to know about the word ‘dropped’ mentioned in that letter. It was the High Command’s decision to drop me, so the Chief Minister sent the letter to the Governor, and based on that, the Governor accepted it.”

He further said that this is the party high command's decision and it is not right to question them, adding he is not going to make any statement to avoid any embarrassment to them.

Rajanna hinted at revealing more in the future, saying, “Even if you want to use terms like ‘resignation’, ‘dropped’, or ‘sacked’, there is a conspiracy behind this. Who conspired, who is behind it, which leaders were involved, and how it all happened, I will reveal everything when the time is right.”

He criticised the party for staying silent when the draft list was published and accused the Election Commission of making changes that benefited the Prime Minister. While admitting the party’s failure to raise timely objections, he urged that greater vigilance was needed in future.

Defending the decision, Law Minister HK Patil said, “The party discipline is well maintained. The high command has taken a decision. All of us are to go with the decision of the high command. It’s in the party’s interest.”

Rajanna’s removal comes at a time, when senior Congress leaders, including Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge, have accused the Election Commission of allegedly colluding with the BJP to “steal elections” across the country.