New Delhi, July 14 (IANS) The BJP on Monday went on the offensive against the Congress and demanded a response from its party president Mallikarjun Kharge over his son Priyank Kharge’s alleged connections with a drug peddling racket in Maharashtra.

Amit Malviya, in-charge of the BJP’s National Information and Technology Department, wrote on X, “Will Mallikarjun Kharge break his silence now? Or will Congress, as usual, protect its own?

“Trouble is mounting for Priyank Kharge as his right-hand man is caught in a drug trafficking case,” said Malviya, referring to the NDPS case registered in Thane against the junior Kharge’s associate Lingaraj Kanni.

“Drug trafficking arrest taints Congress again! Congress National President Mallikarjun Kharge’s close family circle is under fire. Kalyan Police have arrested Lingaraj Kanni, Kalaburagi South Block Congress President and a close aide of Priyank Kharge, son of the Congress chief and Karnataka Minister,” said the BJP leader.

Earlier, the Maharashtra Police arrested Kanni on charges of drug peddling.

According to the police, he was apprehended in Thane city while in possession of narcotic substances and allegedly attempting to sell them. He was also found in possession of a banned Codeine-based syrup of 120 bottles.

A case was registered under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act at the Bazarpeth Police Station

Besides Priyank Kharge, Lingaraj Kanni is also known to be a close aide of Congress MLA Allamaprabhu Patil.

Kanni had joined the Congress during the 2023 Karnataka State Assembly elections. He was previously affiliated with the BJP.

In another development, a First Information Report (FIR) was registered by the Station Bazar police in Kalaburgi, Karnataka, in connection with the suicide of a contractor, Sachin, who was allegedly harassed by the associates of Minister Priyank Kharge in December 2024.

Sachin, a contractor from Bidar, died by suicide on December 26, 2024, reportedly after receiving threats to his life and being pressured for money by Raju Kapnoor, a former Congress corporator and a close associate of Minister Priyank Kharge.

–IANS

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