Amid the high drama that is going in Karnataka assembly, a fake resignation letter signed by chief minister HD Kumaraswamy added to the many twists and turns of the drama. While the Karnataka assembly resumed the debate on the trust vote in the evening of the third day on Monday, a resignation letter started doing the rounds of social media, especially on WhasApp.
The letter written on CM’s letterhead said that he is tendering his resignation of 22 July 2019. As the letter emerged, several media houses started flashing the breaking news that the Karnataka CM has resigned, showing the letter.
After that, the letter was seen in front of HD Kumaraswamy on his desk in the assembly, which captured by cameras of news channels. Therefore, there was no doubt that he is going to resign and he has already printed and signed his resignation letter.
#BREAKING | Karnataka CM @hd_kumaraswamy shows the #fake resignation letter that has been doing rounds in the State assembly.@fayedsouza pic.twitter.com/9dE4jhzpB4
— Mirror Now (@MirrorNow) July 22, 2019
But soon the Chief Minister’s Office said that the letter is fake, and the signature of Kumaraswamy on it is forged. When he was in the assembly taking part in the debate, CMO officials handed him a print out of this ‘resignation letter’, which he had kept in on desk. Media channels assumed this printout of the fake letter as the real one, and jumped the gun by declaring that the Karnataka CM is resigning.
Karnataka CM HD Kumaraswamy, in Vidhana Soudha: I got information that I have tendered my resignation to the Governor. I don’t know who is waiting to become CM. Someone has forged my signature & spread the same on social media. I’m shocked at the cheap level of publicity. pic.twitter.com/0CIOvpluru
— ANI (@ANI) July 22, 2019
Later CM Kumaraswamy flashed the ‘resignation letter’ in the assembly, saying he has got information that he has tendered his resignation. “I don’t know who is waiting to become CM”, he said. Kumaraswamy said that someone has forged his signature on the letter and circulated it on social media.