The Congress- Bharatiya Janata Party spat in Karnataka, taking place in the run up to the assembly elections, seems to have taken an interesting turn.
A day after BJP state president BS Yeddyurappa accused Chief Minister Siddaramaiah of having received Rs 150 crore to sanction the controversial steel flyover project, alleging that Congress leaders in Karnataka paid Rs 1,000 Crore to its leaders in New Delhi, the Congress party has hit back.
On Monday, the Congress party released a video that reportedly shows BSY in conversation with Union Minister Ananth Kumar. Going by media reports, the edited video shows the duo conversing about the money they paid to its national-level leaders, while in power.
Ananth Kumar is also heard telling Yeddyurappa that the party needs to keep the issue of Siddaramaiah allegedly accepting a bribe, burning until the assembly polls in 2018, state media reported.
According to The Times of India, the video is from a BJP function and sourced from a Kannada channel, when the duo engaged in a private conversation without realizing that the microphone placed before them was on.
Union Statistics and Programme Implementation Minister DV Sadananda Gowda can be seen delivering his speech.
The video was released by several Congress leaders, along with five sitting ministers, in a hurriedly called press meet.
Congress leaders including MB Patil, Sharan Prakash Patil and Basavaraj Rayaraddi were quick to lash out at the BJP, saying that their statements on Siddaramaiah were politically motivated.
“The conversation makes it very clear the bribery allegations against Siddaramaiah are politically motivated. Yeddyurappa is fabricating statements to mislead the people.He has no moral authority to speak about corruption,” TOI quoted them as saying.
However, soon after the video was released, Yeddyurappa and Ananth Kumar attempted to “clear the air”. They demanded that the Congress released the entire footage of their conversation, and not an edited version.
“Let them (TV) show the entire conversation between me and Ananth Kumar. Let them show what we have spoken before and after the clipping,” Yeddyurappa said.