Karnataka Minister K N Rajanna sacked for challenging Rahul Gandhi's vote theft claims

Bengaluru: Karnataka Cooperation Minister K N Rajanna was on Monday dismissed from the Cabinet with Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot accepting Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s recommendation to sack him.

Initially, Siddaramaiah asked Rajanna to resign. However, since he resisted the proposal, he was removed from the Cabinet, sources in the chief minister's office told PTI.

A letter to remove Rajanna was sent by the chief minister to the governor in the afternoon and the recommendation was accepted by the Raj Bhavan.

Special Secretary to Governor R Prabhushankar wrote to the Karnataka Chief Secretary Shalini Rajneesh, forwarding the notification removing Rajanna from the Council of Ministers.

Sources in the CM's office said Rajanna's recent statement blaming his own party-led government in Karnataka for the "vote theft" in Mahadevapura assembly segment during the Lok Sabha elections was the reason for his dismissal.

Rajanna, a Siddaramaiah loyalist, drew the ire of the Congress high command when he allegedly blamed his own Congress government in Karnataka for the ‘vote theft’ in Mahadevapura Assembly segment.

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 ‘vote theft’.

He also alleged that there were over a lakh bogus voters in Mahadevapura Assembly segment of the Bangalore Central Parliamentary Constituency during the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

Rajanna tried to blame the Congress government for the ‘vote theft’. The irregularities took place in Karnataka when the Congress is in power, the Minister said and alleged that it happened ‘right in front of our eyes’.

Rajanna has been in the news for the past two months after he claimed that there would be a ‘September Revolution’, hinting at a major upheaval in the government.