Dharmasthala case | Congress MP denies role to 'malign' temple town, threatens legal action

New Delhi: Congress MP Sasikanth Senthil, a former Karnataka cadre IAS officer, on Thursday called the allegations "baseless", that accused him of being behind the conspiracy to defame the religious town of Dharmasthala and warned BJP MLA and former minister Gali Janardhan Reddy that he will be forced take legal action if he continues to defame him.

Senthil, who heads Congress National War Room and considered a key poll strategy for the party during the Karnataka Assembly elections in 2023, said he was "completely unaware" of all the developments in Dharmasthala and linking him to a criminal investigation is "actually an act of defamation".

Reddy alleged that Senthil was the "director and scriptwriter" of the allegations of mass murders in Dharmasthala and claimed that a man linked to the case is close to the Congress MP.

The Tiruvallur MP told DH that he thinks that Reddy may be making the allegations "just for some publicity" and may be he has an axe to grind, as he was involved with the investigations into mining irregularities in Bellary as an Assistant Commissioner when he was posted there.

"I have no links with the developments in Dharmasthala and the ongoing investigations. I could have understood if there was an iota of a link. But I left the state years ago and I am no longer involved with the governance of Karnataka,” he said.

“Linking me just because I was posted in Dakshina Kannada district as Deputy Commissioner earlier is wrong. I resigned from service opposing the BJP doesn't mean that you can level allegations,” he said.

“If he continues to do this, I think I will have to take legal recourse against him. I also request the media to do due diligence before giving credence to such allegations,” he said.