DKS indulges in a “slander campaign”: HDK

Union Minister for Heavy Industries HD Kumaraswamy on Wednesday accused Chief Minister DK Shivakumar of being behind the “smear campaign”, except for the posters mentioning his family members that were allegedly put up around Bidadi. The JD(S) has also urged people to participate in a padayatra on June 21 from Anchipura to Hosur, which will be attended by Nikhil Kumaraswamy.

The posters carried a photograph of him and his son Nikhil Kumaraswamy and claimed they both owned 100 acres, he said.

“I had assumed that after he became the chief minister, he would stop resorting to such tactics, but he did not. I will not be weakened by personal attacks and my fight will only intensify,” the Union minister told reporters here.

Stating that defamation is the last resort of those who have not been able to face issues politically, he said, “This is exactly what Mr Shivakumar is doing as he indulges in a poster campaign to defame me. They have used my wife’s photographs.” He claimed that posters were also put up against R. Ashok, Chalavadi Narayanswamy and BY Vijayendra.

The Union minister claimed that the total extent of land in his name was 46 acres which he bought four decades ago. “Anita Kumaraswamy (his wife) bought about 37 acres,” he said. Pointing a finger at the chief minister, he claimed, “This is a man with a dubious history of grabbing land by getting the thumb impression of a deceased person. The same person who usurped the land in Benniganahalli is now putting up posters through his associates.”

Published – 17 Jun 2026 23:11 IST