The war of allegations and counter allegations between the Karnataka Congress and BJP, following IT Raids on MLA MTB Nagraj’s house, has further escalated, with the Congress filing a complaint against BJP leaders on allegations of corruption.
The legal cell of the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee filed a complaint with the Lokayukta on Wednesday against BJP state President, BS Yeddyurappa and Union Minister for Chemicals and Fertilizers, Ananth Kumar on allegations of corruption.
According to the KPCC Legal Cell Chairman, CM Dhananjay, the complaint seeks investigation into the allegation of Yeddyurappa bribing national level top brass in the BJP, when he was the Chief Minister.
Dhananjay said that the complaint was based on a video recording of a conversation between Yeddyurappa and Ananth Kumar. On Tuesday, the Congress had released the video purportedly recorded on February 12, where the duo discussed how to keep corruption allegations against CM Siddaramaih and his associates alive until the 2018 polls.
Dhananjay said that Yeddyurappa, during this recorded conversation, had revealed that he had paid money to the BJP top brass. “He (Yeddyurappa) says that he has also given money to the high command but not Rs 1,000 crore. He also says that he has given money just like Siddaramaiah did,” CM Dhananjay said.
Yeddyurappa, had alleged on Monday that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and his associates had received kickbacks worth Rs 150 crore for the steel flyover project and that the CM had paid the Congress national high command Rs 1,000 crore.
Yeddyurappa alleged that a diary was found during the I-T raids conducted in Congress MLA MTB Nagraj’s house, in which the information was penned down.
In defence, the Congress released the video of Yeddyurappa and Ananth Kumar discussing the issue of the alleged kickbacks.
CM Siddaramaiah had then hit back at the BJP alleging that the I-T raids were a politically motivated move, and defended Nagaraj, saying, “Just because a person’s house is raided does not mean he is involved in criminal activities.”
Dhananjay alleged that the conversation between Yeddyurappa and Ananth Kumar was proof of an offence of bribery, and required immediate inquiry.
“The CCTV footage of the BJP office where the two leaders were in dialogue, the data picked up by sound sensors and the recordings of the meetings must be seized before it is tampered with. A complaint has also been filed with the Anti-Corruption Bureau,” the Chairman added.