'Offered Rs 25 Lakh To JD(S) MLA To Resign': Karnataka CM Admits In Leaked Audio-Video Clip

In two audio-video clips leaked by former Karnataka Chief Minister(CM) HD Kumaraswamy on Friday, November 1, CM BS Yeddyurappa has conceded to have played a role in poaching Janta Dal(Secular) and Congress MLAs under ‘Operation Kamala’.

Kumaraswamy tweeted the clip of the video in a tweet which was later unavailable on the social media site.

Later Karnataka Congress leader Dinesh Gundu Rao tweeted the same video clip.

‘Operation Kamla’ was carried out to bring the JDS-Congress alliance down in the state by luring the MLAs into resigning by offering them the lump sum amount, ANI reported.

“Maybe I’m the criminal here, to have taken them (the defecting MLAs) into confidence and to sit in the CM’s chair. I’ve done a crime now, I feel… I should not have come to this meeting. Not even one of you said ‘they sacrificed so we could come to power’. What is the point of them resigning from MLA posts, what was the need for it? They believed us and came, right? If you all had said that ‘it may be difficult for them to win, but we will work towards it’, I would have acknowledged it, but that kind of view has not come from either seniors or juniors here,” the CM is heard purportedly saying.

In the seven-minute audio clip, Yeddyurappa admitted offering Rs 25 lakh and a ministerial position to Janata Dal MLA Naganagowda Kandkur’s son, Sharana. In the rest of the clip, he expressed displeasure at other party members for not supporting him and standing by the MLAs who shifted sides.

@bsybjp again confesses about operation Kamala & the immoral defection of @INCIndia MLA’s.

He also clearly reveals that @AmitShah took care of the defectors for 2.5 months in Mumbai.

What more damning proof required that @BJP4India masterminded this entire operation. pic.twitter.com/Oi1PrbdsSN

— ದಿನೇಶ್ ಗುಂಡೂರಾವ್/ Dinesh Gundu Rao (@dineshgrao) November 1, 2019

“The way you have all spoken today… I don’t think you speak like you are interested in this government continuing. Whether this election (by-elections) is won or lost is a different issue. But at this serious juncture in time, not even one of you has said we will stand by them (the defecting MLAs), come what may,” the CM purportedly said.

Kumaraswamy also alleged that such poaching of MLAs could not have happened without having PM Narendra Modi and BJP President Amit Shah’s involvement.

“You all know about the decisions of the 17 MLAs, right? All of you in this room know how it was not just Yeddyurappa’s decision, but that of the national president, to move them to Mumbai. For two-and-half months, they couldn’t go to their constituencies, nor meet their families, they just stayed there,” the CM allegedly said in the leaked audio.

After the video, Congress’ Karnataka unit requested the Supreme Court to consider fresh material in connection with the MLA disqualification case. The party was referring to a purported audio clip of Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa, in which he indicated that the rebellion of 17 Congress and JD(S) rebels in July was orchestrated by BJP president Amit Shah. A bench headed by Justice N V Ramana said it would ask Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi to constitute a bench on Tuesday to consider the material.

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