Bengaluru, 1 June

With a purported audio clip on his alleged role in an “internal conspiracy” against the Congress candidate during the Davanagere South Assembly bypolls going viral, senior Congress leader BZ Zameer Ahmed Khan on Monday termed it “fake” and claimed it was part of a “political conspiracy” generated using AI technology.

Khan, who was a Minister in the recently dissolved Siddaramaiah cabinet, said a complaint would be filed with the cyber police against those responsible for creating and circulating the audio clip, and legal action would be initiated against them.

An audio recording purportedly featuring a conversation between Khan and Mohammed Siraj, expelled vice-president of the minority wing of the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee, has been circulating on social media.

In the clip, the two are allegedly heard speaking in Urdu about defeating the Congress candidate during the Davanagere South Assembly by-election.

The audio conversation, allegedly recorded on the day of polling on 9 April, was reportedly first shared on Monday through an X account named “kannadacockroacc”.

In a statement, Zameer Ahmed Khan said the audio clip being aired by some media outlets in the State was “fake” and had been created using AI technology.

Calling it a “political conspiracy”, he said a complaint would be filed with the cyber police against those responsible for creating and spreading the clip.

Khan also challenged anyone to subject the audio clip to any investigation they deemed necessary.

“I did not speak in that manner. All of this has been fabricated to create confusion. This is the work of mischief-makers, and no one should believe it,” he said.

The audio clip surfaced amid discussions surrounding the formation of a new cabinet under Chief Minister-designate D K Shivakumar.

Khan is also considered a ministerial aspirant.

The clip allegedly contains a conversation between the two men about not forcibly bringing Muslim voters from their homes to cast their votes, as Muslims traditionally vote for Congress, and that doing so would not benefit their cause.

It also allegedly includes suggestions that those who do come out to vote should instead support the SDPI or the independent candidate.

The authenticity of the audio clip has not been independently verified.

A day after the April bypolls, a group of Muslim Congress leaders—including Legislative Council Chief Whip Saleem Ahmed, MLAs Rizwan Arshad and Yasir Ahmed Khan Pathan, and MLC Bilkis Bano—held a press conference alleging that certain party members from the minority community had conspired to defeat the official Congress candidate in Davanagere South. However, they did not name anyone.

The leaders said the party had fielded Samarth Mallikarjun, grandson of veteran MLA Shamanur Shivashankarappa, after considering all factors and taking Muslim leaders into confidence.

Despite this, a campaign allegedly led by some within the party projected the Congress as having “betrayed” minorities by denying them the ticket.

Following the allegations, the Congress suspended MLC K Abdul Jabbar from the party’s primary membership, while Siddaramaiah relieved another MLC, Naseer Ahmed, of his responsibilities as political secretary to the CM.

Speculation was also rife that Zameer Ahmed Khan could face disciplinary action during the next cabinet reshuffle.

Khan, Jabbar and Naseer Ahmed had sought a ticket for a Muslim candidate from Davanagere South. Allegedly upset over the party’s decision to field Samarth Mallikarjun, the three leaders were said to have stayed away from active campaigning.

Though Samarth Mallikarjun won the bypoll, SDPI candidate Afsar Kodlipete secured 18,975 votes, which affected the Congress candidate’s victory margin.