Karnataka Congress President DK Shivakumar stirred a controversy after he sought the arrest of Praveen Sood, the state’s Director general of police and alleged that the officer had been protecting and covering for the current BJP government.
The Congress leader, who is eyeing to be the Chief Minister’s face of the Congress party as Assembly elections near, also threatened the public officer and said that if his party comes to power, strong action will be taken against him.
“This DGP is nalayak (useless). Immediately, there should be a case against him. And he should be arrested. The election commission should remove him,” Mr Shivakumar said.
“He has finished three years in service. How many days do you want to keep and worship him? He has been filing cases only against Congress. He has registered more than 25 cases against us,” he added.
The statements by the key Congress leader triggered a controversy ahead of the highly anticipated Karnataka Assembly Election, in which Congress and BJP are expected to witness a neck-to-neck fight.
While the BJP’s chances to return to power are taking turn for the worse every day with several corruption allegations against its leader, including Chief Minister Basawaraj Bommai himself, the Congress will face strong internal as well as external resistance within the party.
Elections to the 224-member Karnataka assembly are set to be held before May 2023.
The Congress has set a target of winning at least 150 seats in the 224-member Assembly, to come to power in Karnataka, with a clear majority.
