BJP claims Kharges had ‘close links’ with drug peddler Congress member

Upping the ante over the recent arrest of a Karnataka Congress functionary in an alleged drug peddling case, the BJP on Tuesday alleged that the accused was a close associate of AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge and his son Priyank Kharge. The party also flayed the DMK government in Tamil Nadu, alleging its advisors’ involvement in a land revenue scam in Madurai Municipal Corporation, and appealed to the people to vote in favour of the NDA in the assembly polls due next year for a “clean, transparent, and development-oriented government” in the state.
There was no immediate response from the Congress and the DMK to the BJP’s charge. BJP national spokesperson Anil K Antony said Thane police recently arrested Lingaraj Kanni, the president of the Congress’s Kalaburagi block unit, and his two associates, Irfan and Tausif, after the recovery of 120 bottles of “banned narcotic substances” in their possession.
“Lingaraj Kanni is a close associate of AICC President Mallikarjun Kharge and his son Priyank Kharge, who is a minister in the Karnataka government.
Kanni served as block president of Kalaburagi, the home constituency of Priyank Kharge,” he told reporters at the BJP headquarters here. Anthony questioned the “silence” of the Congress and its leader, Rahul Gandhi, on the issue and asked when Mallikarjun Kharge and Priyank Kharge would be “held accountable” in the matter.
“The Congress party, which demands accountability from the BJP government every day, is now silent over the arrest of close associates of its president, Mallikarjun Kharge, and senior leader Priyank Kharge,” the BJP national secretary said.
The Karnataka Congress on Monday expelled Kanni from the party, following his arrest in a drug peddling case in Maharashtra last month.
“The arrest of a minister’s close aide and district-level Congress leader in drug activities is a testament to the moral decay of the Congress party,” the BJP said in a post on X, tagging pictures of Priyank Kharge with Kanni.
Priyank Kharge responded by saying that the Congress had taken action against Kanni and “thrown him out of the party.” “The BJP has nothing else to do. They would love to malign me in any possible way.
There is no denying that the person (Kanni) holds an office bearer post in Congress, apparently he was trying to peddle some cough syrup worth Rs 27,000 in Maharashtra,” he told PTI Videos on Monday.
Meanwhile, taking on the DMK, Antony claimed that a “major scam” recently came to light in the Madurai Municipal Corporation in Tamil Nadu, alleging the involvement of several advisors of the ruling party in it.
He alleged that they manipulated software systems to register land records at “extremely undervalued prices,” causing tax revenue loss of over Rs 150 to Rs 200 crore to the Tamil Nadu government.
“It is part of a long chain of scams that have taken place in Tamil Nadu over the last decade,” Anthony alleged and demanded that Chief Minister M K Stalin bring all those “responsible for the Madurai land scam” to justice.
The BJP leader alleged that under the DMK rule, “multiple major scams” have emerged and listed the fisheries scam, sand mining scams, ETL infrastructure scam, and TASMAC liquor scam in way of proof.
He appealed to the people to vote out DMK in 2026 and elect the BJP.
Only the BJP-NDA (National Democratic Alliance) can deliver a “corruption-free and good governance-driven administration” in Tamil Nadu, he claimed.