Karnataka minister sacked for remarks on 'vote theft'

Karnataka's cooperation minister KN Rajanna was sacked on Monday after an upset Congress high command sought his ouster from the Cabinet for taking a public stand in sharp contrast to that of party leader Rahul Gandhi on the "vote theft" campaign.

A follower of chief minister Siddaramaiah, the 74-year-old Scheduled Tribe leader has often made headlines with his outspokenness. He represents Madhugiri in Tumakuru district.

A day after Gandhi led a campaign, accusing the Election Commission of India of engineering voter list manipulation in Mahadevapura assembly constituency, Rajanna blamed the party for doing nothing when voter rolls were being prepared with defects galore.

"The electoral rolls' preparation and the conduct of the Lok Sabha elections happened during our own party rule. We kept quiet back then and are speaking out now. We should be ashamed that these occurred before our own eyes," he said on Saturday, suggesting a distinction between preparation of electoral rolls and conduct of elections. He had, however, added that in future the party would take the right steps under Gandhi's leadership.

AICC general secretary called Siddaramaiah on Monday morning and conveyed Gandhi's decision to ease out Rajanna. The CM is said to have pleaded in the leader's favour, suggesting that he could be let off with a strict warning and that if the leadership was firm on his sacking, it could happen after the legislature session was over. The leadership, however, did not agree and urged the CM to act immediately.

Rajanna's comments had often been not to the liking of deputy CM DK Shivakumar as he always suggested that Siddaramaiah would remain their leader and complete a five-year term.