Ludhiana: Even as he faces the headache of settling the ‘dispute’ between Karnataka chief ministerial contenders Siddaramaiah and DK Shivakumar, there’s more trouble for Mallikarjun Kharge.
The Congress president has been summoned by a Punjab court in a Rs 100-crore defamation case filed against him over the party’s election promise of taking decisive action against Bajrang Dal in Karnataka.
The Sangrur district court has asked Kharge to appear before it on July 10.
Hindu Suraksha Parishad founder Hitesh Bhardwaj was the one to file the defamation suit.
In its manifesto for the Karnataka Assembly election, Congress promised to act tough against outfits like Students’ Islamic Movement of India (SIMI), Popular Front of India (PFI) and Bajrang Dal, if the grand old party was voted to power in the southern state.
The Congress secured an emphatic victory in the election, held on May 10 as it bagged 135 of the 224 seats. The ruling BJP managed 66 seats and the JD(S) 19 seats.
