Ashwath Narayan met MB Patil for protection: DK Shivakumar

Karnataka Congress president DK Shivakumar was unamused on Tuesday as he gave credence to a rumoured meeting between his party colleague MB Patil and Higher Education Minister CN Ashwath Narayan.

Speaking to reporters, Shivakumar said that Narayan met Patil seeking “protection” so that Congress leaders do not raise corruption charges against the higher education department.

“[Narayan] wants protection. And when we ask, they say it was a personal meeting and that [Patil] also owns educational institutions so he wanted some advice. I don’t want to discuss this further,” Shivakumar said.

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Patil heads the Karnataka Congress’ campaign committee, which means he is in charge of devising the party’s communications strategy for the 2023 Assembly elections.

The DK Shivakumar-led Congress is going after Narayan for his alleged involvement in the police sub-inspectors’ recruitment scam and irregularities in the hiring of assistant professors.

Both Patil and Narayan denied having met each other.

“I haven’t met Ashwath Narayan anytime in the recent past. There's no truth in the news that we met. Besides, there’s nothing stopping us from the meeting. His daughter and my son are classmates. Also, he’s the higher education minister. So, if I have some work to get done, I’ll go to him,” Patil told reporters, adding that political ties are different from personal relations.

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Further, Patil expressed surprise over Shivakumar’s statement. “I’ll talk to him. What does ‘protection’ even mean? Can I give protection to Narayan? Can Shivakumar, Siddaramaiah or BK Hariprasad?”

Narayan maintained the same line. “It’s a complete lie. There’s no need for me to meet [Patil]. We’re friends. If we have to meet, I don’t need Shivakumar’s permission,” the minister said.

Patil and Shivakumar have had disagreements in the past. In 2019, for example, Patil lodged a complaint with the Congress leadership against Shivakumar for his public apology over the ‘separate Lingayat religion’ issue. Patil had led the movement for Lingayats to be given the religious minority status, which was seen as one of the reasons for the Congress's defeat in the 2018 Assembly polls.