Defamation case lodged against Siddaramaiah for statement on Lingayats

A defamation case was lodged, on Tuesday, April 25, against Karnataka's Leader of Opposition Siddaramaiah over his alleged statement on corruption practised by Lingayat Chief Ministers in the state. Activist Shankar Sait had lodged a private complaint with the Magistrate court in Bengaluru in this regard. The court had adjourned the matter to April 29, after accepting the petition.

A complaint had also been registered against the Congress leader with the Election Commission in this regard already. The statement that Lingayat CMs indulged in corruption and destroyed the state has stirred a controversy ahead of the May 10 Assembly elections. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has also made it a big poll issue in the state and used it as a weapon to control the damage caused by the exit of former Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar and Deputy Chief Minister Laxman Savadi. The Lingayat Yuva Vedike Legal Cell, which had lodged a complaint with the Election Commission, claimed that Siddaramaiah had insulted the Lingayat community and defamed it.

Siddaramaiah had clarified that he meant to say Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, who is the present Chief Minister, is indulged in corruption and destroyed the state and he didn't mean to comment about others. Responding to a question on the BJP's stance that a Lingayat should be the next Chief Minister, Siddaramaiah, on April 22 said "There's already a Lingayat Chief Minister (BS Bommai). He's the root of all the corruption in the state."

Read: ‘My comment was on Bommai’: Siddaramaiah clarifies on 'corrupt Lingayat CM' remark