"DK Shivakumar's statement was distorted": Congress MP Shukla slams ruling party over constitution row

New Delhi [India], March 25 (ANI): Congress MP Rajeev Shukla on Tuesday defended Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar over the controversy surrounding his reported statement on amending the Constitution, alleging that the ruling party misrepresented it.
Shukla said that the Karnataka Deputy CM's statement was distorted before being presented in the parliament and that Shivkumar, as well as the Congress President Kharge had denied the statement.
"DK Shivakumar's statement was distorted and presented in Parliament. DK Shivakumar, (Mallikarjun) Kharge--all denied this statement, but the ruling party keeps repeating the same thing, so this is wrong," the Congress MP said.
Shukla's remarks come amid a political row sparked by Shivakumar's alleged comments suggesting changes to the Constitution to accommodate religion-based reservations in Karnataka, which the BJP has seized upon to criticise the Congress.
Earlier, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) MP Manoj Jha on Tuesday weighed in on the controversy surrounding Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar's remarks, alleging it was a tactic to shift focus from pressing matters.
Speaking to ANI, Jha said, "It is to divert attention from the key issues," noting that the Karnataka Deputy CM's remark was "distorted" to a maximum level.
"What was the most important issue yesterday for Parliament? Stack of cash (Delhi HC judge Yashwant Varma case). But discussions were not held on that. You distorted a person's statement to the maximum," the RJD leader added.
DK Shivakumar also hit back at the BJP over the matter, accusing the party of misquoting him and spreading fake news.
Announcing his next steps, Shivakumar said, "I will take a breach of privilege on this. I will fight a case. They are misquoting me," and further accused the BJP of a deliberate campaign to mislead.
Shivakumar's remarks sparked a massive row and drew backlash from BJP leaders over the Karnataka state cabinet approval of an amendment to the Karnataka Transparency in Public Procurement (KTPP) Act, which aims to provide a four per cent reservation in tenders to minority contractors. (ANI)