Cong-BJP spar over K'taka CM's charge that saffron party attempting 'horse trading' to topple govt

Bengaluru: The Congress and the BJP on Thursday sparred over Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s statement that the saffron party offered Rs 50 crore each to 50 MLAs of the ruling party to topple his government.

At an event in Mysuru, Siddaramaiah reiterated the claim that “none of the Congress MLAs had accepted the offer”. He also accused the BJP of filing false cases against him in a bid to “remove him and overthrow his government”.

The BJP went ballistic against Siddaramaiah calling it a ‘baseless allegation’.

Karnataka BJP President B Y Vijayendra challenged Siddaramaiah to disclose the source of his allegation.

He alleged that the CM had lost faith in his party MLAs and hence was leveling false allegations. If the Chief Minister fails to prove that Rs 50 crore each was offered to 50 Congress MLAs, people will not take him seriously anymore, Vijayendra said.

Siddaramaiah declined to comment on Vijayendra’s statement.

“I will not comment on him. Why do you ask me about the person who came (into politics) just recently?” asked Siddaramaiah. Vijayendra alleged that Siddaramaiah was behaving in a manner that undermined the dignity of the responsible position he was holding.

“You have your own government and your own investigating agencies. Hence, it is your moral responsibility to reveal to the people, the source of the Rs 50 crore bribe charge. Otherwise, your statement will be nothing more than a childish political statement,” he said.

The Chief Minister’s allegation was an “insult” to the democratic system as it depicts the MLAs as commodities for sale, he alleged.

Vijayendra further accused Siddaramaiah of “weaving a lie” to keep the MLAs in check and “cover up the corruption cases” surrounding him.

Noting that the allegation made by the Chief Minister needs to be investigated, he said the Enforcement Directorate should urgently take it up on its own and immediately conduct a probe.

Former Ministers V Sunil Kumar and C T Ravi flayed the CM of making a “baseless allegation”.

Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister and state congress president D K Shivakumar backed Siddaramaiah’s claim.

Addressing reporters here, he said, “The BJP indeed lured 50 Congress MLAs with Rs 50 crore each. Some of our MLAs informed the Chief Minister about this matter, and he in turn shared it with the media.” Ministers G Parameshwara, N Chaluvaraya swamy, Santosh Lad and K S Rajanna came in support of the Chief Minister stating that he must have credible information, without which he would not have made such a statement. “There is a meaning to his statement. The BJP and the JD(S) have been trying everything continuously, to topple this government. All their campaigns are meant to de-stabilise this government,” Parameshwara said.