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Last Updated:<\/span>August 11, 2025, 22:11 IST<\/time><\/p>\nCongress leader KN Rajanna was asked to resign by Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah but refused to do so and said he was “dropped” by the party high command due to a “misunderstanding”<\/h2>\n\n
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Karnataka cooperation minister KN Rajanna speaks during the monsoon session of the state assembly, in Bengaluru on August 11. (Image: PTI)<\/p>\n<\/figure>\n
Hours after he was removed as the cooperation minister from the Karnataka cabinet on Monday, Congress leader KN Rajanna has alleged that there is a conspiracy against him and he will provide answers at the right time.<\/span><\/p>\nRajanna was initially asked to resign by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah but refused to do so. He said he was \u201cdropped” by the Congress high command but this seems to be a \u201cmisunderstanding” with senior leader Rahul Gandhi, on whose direct order he was apparently sacked from his position in the council of ministers.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cThere is a conspiracy against me. I will go to Delhi and clarify what I have said,” Rajanna told reporters. \u201cThere is a big conspiracy, a plot and, when the time comes, I will provide the answers.”<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cYou have information about the draft that came from the Governor\u2019s office. It has come as \u2018dropped\u2019. This is the high command\u2019s decision, the party\u2019s decision,” he said. \u201cI believe Rahul Gandhi has a misunderstanding. I will try to remove that misunderstanding. I will go to Delhi and correct this misunderstanding.”<\/span><\/p>\nThe BJP, meanwhile, called out the Congress for sacking Rajanna over the \u201cvote theft” issue and said there is no place for truth in the grand old party. It said the development, in fact, showed a divide within the ruling Congress in the state.<\/span><\/p>\nRajanna is the second minister to be out of Siddaramaiah\u2019s cabinet, after the Congress came to power in 2023. <\/span>Last year, it was Bellary MLA B Nagendra, who had to resign following allegations against him in connection with embezzlement at the Karnataka Maharshi Valmiki ST Development Corporation.<\/span><\/p>\nWHAT DID RAJANNA SAY ON \u2018VOTE THEFT\u2019?<\/h4>\n Rajanna, who is a Siddaramaiah loyalist, drew the ire of the Congress high command when he allegedly blamed his own government for the \u201cvote theft” in Mahadevapura assembly segment during the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nLeader of opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi recently held a press conference in New Delhi and later a public meeting in Bengaluru where he claimed that the BJP government at the Centre came to power due to \u201cvote theft”. He cited the presence of over a lakh bogus voters in Mahadevapura under Bangalore Central parliamentary constituency.<\/span><\/p>\nRajanna\u2019s views on the issue proved costly for him. <\/span>\u201cWhen were the voter lists prepared? They were prepared under our (Congress) government. Were we all sleeping? It is true that there were irregularities. But we should be ashamed that those irregularities happened right in front of our eyes and we didn\u2019t stop them. We must be cautious going forward,” he said.<\/span><\/p>\nQuestioning his own party men on what they were doing when objections were invited after draft electoral rolls were prepared, he asked, \u201cShouldn\u2019t we have checked the draft electoral rolls after they were published? We should have filed objections. Having been quiet then, we are raising this now.”<\/span><\/p>\nHOW DID THE BJP RESPOND?<\/h4>\n The opposition BJP, meanwhile, seemed to rally on Rajanna\u2019s side and called his termination from Karnataka\u2019s council of ministers as a \u201csetback” for Siddaramaiah and \u201cwarning bells for the days ahead”.<\/span><\/p>\nState BJP leaders said Rajanna, who is a senior and experienced face from the scheduled tribes (ST) community, has been sacked for speaking the truth on the \u201cvote theft” issue. Former CM Basavaraj Bommai attacked the Congress for suppressing dissent and said there were those in the party who still behaved as \u201cslaves”.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n\n