Fake sting video row revives friction within Karnataka Congress leadership

What Happened

A fake sting video controversy involving former Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has revived internal friction within the state Congress unit, four months after D K Shivakumar replaced him as Chief Minister in early June. Siddaramaiah and his son Yathindra, a minister in the cabinet, have openly dismissed the video as manufactured to ruin the senior leader's image. The footage, filmed in 2023 by Power TV Managing Director Rakesh Shetty, surfaced on social media and local TV channels last month. Yathindra alleged that party insiders were involved alongside Shetty, pointing to a female Congress worker who sought a ticket for the 2023 assembly polls from Puttur. Siddaramaiah filed a police complaint on October 6 with the Bengaluru cyber crime station against the creators of the 'Karnataka Honey Trap' YouTube channel. A local Bengaluru court granted a temporary injunction on October 13 against broadcasting the video, noting it features two men and a woman discussing allegations about an event around 2011.

Reactions and Protests

The opposition BJP and JD(S) have used the controversy to highlight divisions in the ruling party. JD(S) leader and Union Minister H D Kumaraswamy alleged that a coordinated operation forced Siddaramaiah out of office and that the Congress high command was misled. Kumaraswamy staged protests at the Bengaluru police commissioner's office and the Karnataka director general of police's office after a preliminary police probe into the 'Karnataka Honey Trap' channel indicated a possible role for the JD(S) social media team. Kumaraswamy threatened further protests if JD(S) social media workers Shankar and Mohan were arrested. Meanwhile, Chief Minister Shivakumar revealed in an interview that an unidentified businessman recently targeted him with a suspected hidden recording using Meta glasses.

Context

Sting operations and hidden camera controversies have occasionally surfaced in Indian politics, often used by rival factions or opposition parties during power struggles. Internal party rivalries between top leaders in state units are a common challenge for major national political parties. Police cyber cell investigations into morphed or unauthorized digital media uploads generally rely on digital forensics to trace source channels and social media handles.