A month left for the Karnataka Assembly Elections, the BJP has accused Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah of bribing people in Chamundeshwari constituency, Mysurui to gain votes.
Reportedly, a video of the Chief Minister has surfaced in the media where he is allegedly handing out money to supporters. He can be seen with a group of his supporters, and he takes out what looks like wallet and purportedly hands some cash to two of them. The people can be identified as two women who welcomed him at Chamundeshwari. It is also the place where Siddaramaiah is expected to contest the upcoming elections.
Series of accusations
BJP IT-cell head, Amit Malviya proclaimed in his tweet that Siddaramaiah had landed himself in trouble.
Karnataka Chief Minister @Siddaramaiah has landed himself in big trouble after he was seen on video handing out money to the people during a visit to Mysuru… https://t.co/IpuovoOz2Z pic.twitter.com/A9lEroeZnH
— Amit Malviya (@malviyamit) March 30, 2018
BJP general secretary Ravi Kumar alleged Siddaramaiah of bribing and violating the moral code. He also pointed out that Siddaramaiah gave Rs 2000 to the priest of that premise. He said that the CM’s act of bribery is in violation of Representation of People Act and comes under Section 171 of the IPC.
Election Commission is looking into the matter.
Congress’ reaction
Congress denied any information about the video and said that Siddaramaiah did not have any wallet with him at that time. The party, in turn, accused BJP of looting people and using the money for its own good. On February 13, in a press conference in New Delhi, Congress released a video of two BJP ministers talking about bribery.
In the meantime, Congress blamed Amit Shah and two others namely Yeddyurappa, the state president and Anant Kumar, the union minister for providing Rs 5 lakh to Raju’s family, an RSS worker who died two years ago.
In their complaint to the Election Commission of India through Chief Electoral Officer of Karnataka they alleged, “The aforementioned leaders handed over a cheque of Rs 5,00,000/- to the deceased’s family which is in gross violation of the Model Code of Conduct Para 1(4) read with Section 171B of the Indian Penal Code, 1860. Mr Amit Shah has visited the state and particularly Mysuru many times before but had never made an effort to visit the family. Thus, it is safe to presume in the light of the ensuing elections, the money was paid with an intent to woo the voters,” reported The News Minute.
With elections around the corner, the parties are making full efforts for knocking down their opposition before the polls are held.
