Bengaluru, 3 March

Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara on Tuesday rejected claims that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah was using state intelligence to monitor the movements of Deputy CM DK Shivakumar's camp, amid the ongoing power tussle within the ruling Congress in the state.

Playing down reports and allegations made by opposition BJP and JD(S) leaders, he said that no illegal phone tapping is taking place.

He, however, said that the political intelligence wing provides the CM with daily briefings on various developments, a practice maintained under all previous governments.

"We are the ones running the government. We will have more information, not them (opposition). Who told them? Did intelligence inform them? We run the government, and we have information on various matters. There are no such developments," Parameshwara said in response to a question.

Speaking to reporters here, he said, "As far as I know, there is no phone tapping. The Chief Minister is also not aware of any such activities."

To a question about the CM receiving intelligence inputs on Congress legislators' meetings, the state Home Minister stated that a dedicated political intelligence wing shares information on developments with the Chief Minister daily.

"But, there is no need to tap phones to gather and share information, and such things are not happening," he added.

Asked if it is right to seek information about one's own party members, Parameshwara said political intelligence is shared only when required.

"During the tenure of all the previous Chief Ministers, the political intelligence wing has existed... what information is sought is left to the discretion of the Chief Minister," he added.

The leadership tussle within the ruling party has intensified amid speculation about a possible change of chief minister, following the Congress government's completion of the halfway mark of its five-year term on 20 November 2025.

The speculation has been fuelled by the reported "power-sharing" arrangement between Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar at the time of the government formation in 2023.

Amid reports that Siddaramaiah was using state intelligence to keep a tab on Shivakumar's camp, Leader of Opposition in the Legislative Assembly R Ashoka alleged complete politicisation of administration under the CM.

"So now State Intelligence has a new full-time job-tracking dinner attendance of DyCM DK Shivakumar’s faction?" Ashoka posted on 'X' on Monday.

He said, "Drug factories run unchecked, communal tensions rise. Law & order weakens. But (what is) the top priority of this government? Counting MLAs and shadowing political rivals."

"This is the complete politicisation of administration under CM Siddaramaiah," the opposition leader said, telling Siddaramaiah that "the state machinery exists to protect the people of Karnataka, not to protect your chair."

Questioning the silence of top Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, he said, "The same Rahul who lectures about misuse and weaponisation of institutions."

Asserting that Karnataka deserves active governance, not surveillance politics, he demanded that CM Siddaramaiah stop using the state intelligence wing as a tool for his own political survival.

JD(S) leader HD Kumaraswamy too has claimed that information is being gathered about ruling party legislators and leaders through intelligence, in a "big way".