Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah lodges police complaint over fake news report

Bengaluru: Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Wednesday said he has lodged a police complaint over a fake news story and accused "the miscreants supported by the unholy alliance of BJP and JD(S) of fabricating a piece of disinformation mimicking a report from the Kannada newspaper." Siddaramaiah said he will root out the creators of such fake news and those backing them through legal means.

The chief minister shared the purported "news report" in Kannada, whose headline read, "We don’t need Hindus. Muslim votes are enough: Siddaramaiah," on the micro-blogging site X.

Quoting Siddaramaiah, the sub-heading in the fake news report said: "I wish to be born as a Muslim in the next birth. Don’t bother about BJP’s comments on Muslim appeasement." "This fake news is loaded with content that stirs up communal tensions and has been widely disseminated across social media platforms," Siddaramaiah said.

Stating that he has already lodged a complaint with the police about this, he said, "We have information about the vested interests behind this and the police will take necessary action." Resorting to such deceitful tactics to win elections, rather than engaging with political opponents through fair and honest means, shows the intellectual bankruptcy of the BJP and JD(S), the chief minister alleged.

"A party that has ruled the country for 10 years should not have stooped to such a despicable level of manufacturing fake news to win an election. Be cautious before believing and sharing fake news..!," Siddaramaiah added.