Bengaluru, December 6, 2025: Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar on Saturday strongly condemned the Enforcement Directorate (ED) summons issued to him and his brother, DK Suresh, regarding their donations to the National Herald and Young India.

Speaking to reporters at his Sadashivanagar residence, Shivakumar stated, “ED has issued summons for donating to National Herald and Young India. ED is torturing us. It is not correct, and I condemn it.” He added that both he and his brother have been fully cooperating with the investigation from the beginning and maintained that there was nothing to hide.

Shivakumar expressed confusion over the ED’s repeated summons and the registration of a police complaint, saying, “I don’t understand why ED has chargesheeted us. There was no need to register a police complaint in this case. We will fight this legally in the court of law.”

Details of the Summons and Legal Timeline

The Deputy Chief Minister informed that the Delhi Police has instructed him and DK Suresh to provide information by December 19. “ED has issued a summons to me and my brother, DK Suresh. We had replied to the summons some time back. It is shocking that they have issued the summons once again. The Delhi Police have instructed us to provide information by December 19,” he said.

Allegations of Political Targeting

Shivakumar alleged that the action by the ED was aimed at intimidating supporters of Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi. “We are paying our taxes, and we are free to give our money to anyone we want. They had even registered a PMLA case in order to torture us. What happened after that? The only objective seems to be to torture supporters of Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi and create confusion,” he claimed.

Donations to Congress Organisations

Shivakumar clarified that his donations were made as a Congressman to support the National Herald and Young India during difficult periods. “National Herald and Young India are the Congress party’s organisations. We are Congressmen, and hence we had donated money from our Trusts when these organisations were in difficult times. Many other people also helped during that time,” he explained.

He added that the recent notice was issued on Friday, noting that his brother DK Suresh had made donations while serving as a Member of Parliament. “We will go through the notice and take necessary legal steps,” Shivakumar said.

This development adds to the ongoing legal scrutiny surrounding funding of Congress-affiliated organisations, with Shivakumar and his brother asserting that their contributions were lawful and transparent, and vowing to challenge the summons through legal channels.