Corruption embedded in Congress' DNA: BJP after IT sleuths seize Rs 42 crore from Karnataka contractor

New Delhi: The BJP on Saturday alleged that corruption is embedded in the Congress’ DNA as it linked the party with a contractor from whose premises the Income Tax Department allegedly recovered Rs 42 crore in cash during a search operation in Bengaluru.

Addressing a press conference at the BJP headquarters here, Union minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar said, “We must remember the name of a person, Ambikapathy, the contractor who, on behalf of the Congress, had written to the prime minister in July-August last year labelling the erstwhile BJP government in Karnataka as 40 per cent commission government”.

”A whopping Rs 42 crore has been recovered from the house of Ambikapathy,” Chandrasekhar said, adding,” Ambikapathy and his group of contractors, acting on behalf of the Congress, had propagated a false narrative of corruption against the BJP, misleading the people in the state.”

He said it was Ambikapathy who had written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in July-August last year, labelling the erstwhile BJP government in Karnataka as “40 per cent commission government” ahead of the state Assembly polls.

”It is clear that this was a massive drama they had orchestrated and behind the drama was a singular objective — corruption,” he charged.

”Unfortunately, the voters in Karnataka were misled by this narrative and Congress grabbed power,” he added.

The BJP leader’s allegation comes a day after the Income Tax Department recovered more than Rs 42 crore in cash, stashed in a residential premise in Bengaluru, on Friday as part of its tax evasion searches against some Karnataka-based contractors and people linked to them.

The searches triggered a political slugfest between Karnataka’s ruling Congress and the BJP ahead of Assembly polls in five states.

”Congress believes in fake guarantees, lies and corruption. Corruption is embedded in the DNA of Congress. We saw this in Karnataka, and now they want to use the same political strategy in Telangana, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan,” Chandrasekhar alleged.

The Union minister accused the Congress of treating Karnataka as its ”ATM to fund elections in other states”.

He said, ”It’s disheartening to see that Karnataka has, in the hands of the chief minister and deputy chief minister, transformed into an ATM for the ‘INDI looto yatra’.” ”Ambikapathy’s case is just the beginning and we believe it represents only the tip of the iceberg. In the coming days, we anticipate that more corrupt contractors and corruption in general will be exposed,” he added.