'Vote chori' row: Dismissed Karnataka minister K Rajanna may be expelled from Congress; high command okays action amid internal turmoil

BENGALURU: Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah Monday removed cooperation minister KN Rajanna from the cabinet following a directive from the Congress high command, two days after the minister publicly ridiculed Rahul Gandhi's allegations on vote theft.The resignation was not without a touch of drama as Rajanna, a staunch supporter of Siddaramaiah, offered to resign and went to the chief minister's office on Monday. However, the high command insisted that Siddaramaiah must formally dismiss him as a disciplinary measure. Acting on the party's instructions, Siddaramaiah sent a recommendation to the governor, who accepted the removal notifying Rajanna's ouster from the ministry Monday afternoon.

Next, Rajanna may be expelled from the party in a strong message to dissenters.

Taking note of Rajanna's statements, deputy chief minister DK Shivakumar reportedly flagged the issue with the high command. Following this, AICC general secretary KC Venugopal, acting on instructions from Rahul and AICC chief Mallikarjun Kharge, wrote to Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar - who is also KPCC president - urging them to take action against Rajanna.

According to CMO sources, Siddaramaiah sought to delay Rajanna's removal until the monsoon session in Karnataka, but the high command forced the CM's hand.On Saturday, Rajanna publicly disputed Rahul's attempt to blame EC and the BJP-led central govt for irregularities in the electoral rolls, particularly in the Mahadevapura segment of Bangalore Central Lok Sabha constituency.

Row echoes in assembly

One should remember voter lists were revised when our own govt was at the helm.

Why did our party turn a blind eye then? It is true there are irregularities, but it is insulting to us that it happened right under our nose,” Rajanna said.On Aug 8, Rahul led a protest in Bengaluru, doubling down on his charge that EC colluded with BJP to allow over one lakh bogus votes in Mahadevapura, which helped BJP win Bangalore Central Lok Sabha seat last year. Rajanna pointed out that objections to draft electoral rolls were invited soon after they were prepared.

“What were we doing then? Shouldn’t we have checked the draft electoral rolls after they were published? We should’ve filed objections.

Having been quiet then, we’re raising this now,” he said.The controversy spilled into the assembly Monday afternoon. BJP’s R Ashoka said, “Rajanna represents ST (Valmiki). Congress has made him the scapegoat like it sacrificed another ST minister B Nagendra.”