Karnataka Cooperation Minister ST Somashekar is the latest BJP leader to face ‘CD heat’. His son Nishant complained to the Bengaluru city police that the son of a powerful astrologer was blackmailing him with footage of a model. The police has arrested a youth Rahul Bhat in connection with the case.
According to Nishant, Bhat had sent him a video threatening to expose his antics with a model if he did not pay Rs 1 crore. He claims that the video has been tampered with and it is not his in that serial footage.
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Talking to the media, he said, ‘I am with BJP. Those who are against me are doing this to tarnish my image and my father’s reputation. I have nothing to do with it.”
The father of the main accused Bhat is a well-known astrologer from Karnataka. His close association with the ‘who’ of the state is an open secret. He was also raided by the Income Tax Department in 2008.
Congress MLA from Indi in Vijayapura district, Yashwantrai Gowda Patil, is also in trouble as the accused has used his daughter’s mobile SIM card. The MLA rubbished the allegations saying that his daughter is abroad and before going there, she had given the SIM to a friend named Rakesh and appears to have misused it. Police are verifying the claims.
The embarrassed BJP high command has reportedly sought a detailed report from Minister Somashekhar about the entire matter.
Interestingly, Somashekar is one of the six Karnataka ministers who got a stay from the court against the alleged telecast of the CD. After senior minister Ramesh Jarkhiholi resigned after a video of him with a young woman was leaked, he moved the court seeking adjournment, sparking a major controversy in Karnataka.
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The state BJP has a history of getting its leaders caught in compromising positions. During BS Yediyurappa’s second term between 2008-2011, two of his MLAs were involved in such controversies.
After the BJP returned to power through ‘Operation Lotus’ in July 2018, MLA and former minister Kalakappa Bandi had complained that he was a honey trap. After that, the Jarkiholi case shook the state and six of his cabinet colleagues reportedly approached the court seeking a stay on the release of CDs. Interestingly, all are Congressmen who sided with the BJP to topple the JD(S)-Congress government in the state.
Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai has ordered a thorough investigation into the latest scam. The opposition Congress has demanded the sacking of Somashekhar on moral grounds.
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