Order CBI investigation into alleged Operation Kamala, tweets Siddaramaiah

Team Udayavani, Aug 18, 2019, 1:19 PM IST

Bengaluru: Welcoming the state government’s decision to hand over the phone tapping case to the CBI, Former Chief Minister and Congress leader Siddaramaiah on Sunday urged Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa to order CBI investigation into alleged Operation Kamala.

“I welcome the decision of Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa to hand over the phone tapping case to CBI. But, in the past, @BJP4India has used CBI as its puppet to unleash its venomous political vendetta. Hope @BJP4Karnataka leaders does not have similar intentions this time,” he tweeted.

In another tweet, he said, ” Allegations of ‘Operation Kamala’ being done in Karnataka is as serious as allegations of Phone tapping. I urge BS Yediyurappa to order CBI investigation into alleged Operation Kamala also. I heard they acted on my advice in phone tapping case and I hope they act on this issue as well.”

On Sunday Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa said that he will order a CBI probe into the allegations citing demands by several Congress leaders.

“On the telephone tapping issue. Several leaders, including Congress Legislature Party leader Siddaramaiah, have said it should be probed and truth should come out, so I have decided to order a CBI probe. Tomorrow itself I will order the probe,” Yediyurappa told reporters here.

He also said it was the expectation of the people of the state that a detailed inquiry should be made and the culprits punished.

Yediyurappa’s announcement comes amid signs that the scandal is gaining political steam ever since disqualified JDS MLA A H Vishwanath, who served as the JDS state president and turned rebel later, last week dropped the political bomb, accusing the HD Kumaraswamy government of tapping phones and spying on more than 300 leaders, including him.

Congress leaders, including Siddaramaiah, M Mallikarjuna Kharge and home minister in the alliance government M B Patil, have sought a probe while another key party leader and former minister D K Shivakumar has rejected the snooping charges and appeared to side with Kumaraswamy.

According to reports, phones of those close to Siddaramaiah, who was the then coalition coordination committee chief, had come under the watch of the government.