Bengaluru, March 21 The honey trap row rocked the Karnataka Legislative Assembly for the second consecutive day on Friday, with the BJP claiming that the issue was nothing other than a power struggle.
The BJP claimed that a Congress member asked its MLA Basanagouda Patil Yatnal to raise the issue in the House and questioned what was happening within the grand old party.
BJP General Secretary and MLA V. Sunil Kumar raised the issue, saying that a cabinet minister and a Congress member of the Legislative Council have stated that attempts were made to honeytrap him.
Kumar said that this honey trap issue is nothing but a power struggle and if any one of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah's cabinet colleagues is involved, the latter should be sacked.
Expressing concern, he said: "If this is not done, no moral standing will be left. What was the intelligence department doing while an attempt to honey-trap a minister was made? If a Congress leader or even a BJP leader is involved, take action. One minister claims outside the House that a minister from his government is involved, while another minister said in the Assembly that he was targeted and requested the Home Minister to investigate."
Stating that the Chief Minister is the senior-most member of the House after Congress MLA R.V. Deshpande, Kumar said the former should uphold the dignity of the Assembly.
Leader of the Opposition in the state Assembly R. Ashoka said that honey trapping concerns all members of the House, and the issue must be investigated by a sitting judge of the High Court.
"If even a minister feels insecure, what about others? This is a massive mafia. If people are willing to go to any extent to secure the Chief Minister's position or other political posts, where are we headed?" Ashoka said.
State BJP President B. Y. Vijayendra also emphasised that this is an issue concerning every member and called for a thorough investigation.
Sharing that he agrees with BJP MLA Kumar, Minister Priyank Kharge said, "Morality should be upheld. We represent lakhs of people, and our conduct reflects their mandate."
BJP MLA and former Home Minister Araga Jnanendra stated that one of the Chief Ministers had expressed concerns about facing the threat of physical assault and it's on record.
"If ministers and legislators are not protected from honey-trapping attempts aimed at politically finishing them off, this represents the lowest depths to which politics can sink. A minister expressing his helplessness in the Assembly is deeply concerning," he underlined.
BJP MLA Suresh Gowda alleged, "Although our MLA Basanagouda Patil Yatnal raised the honey trap issue, he had received a note from one of the ministers beforehand in the session. This must be investigated. What is happening within the Congress party?"
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