BENGALURU: Former minister and Rajarajeshwari Nagar BJP MLA Munirathna on Saturday clarified that if the veracity of the audio in which he is purportedly heard harassing, threatening, and using casteist slurs against a BBMP contractor is proven, he will resign from the Assembly.
Speaking to a private TV channel hours before his arrest by the police on charges of committing atrocities on SCs/STs and other charges, the MLA clarified that the voice in the audio was not his. “I will approach the court. The contractor, Chaluvaraju, should come to the Assembly Speaker’s office with the audio tape, and if it is proven that the voice is mine, I will resign as MLA,” Munirathna said.
The MLA claimed that Chaluvaraju was with him and was praising him just a month ago. “I know him for the last 7 to 8 years... how can I demand a bribe from him?” the MLA asked.
He alleged that leaders of two communities (Vokkaligas and Dalits) were conspiring to finish him off politically, and the audio was part of it. Replying to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s post on ‘X’ that the BJP should cleanse Munirathna’s mouth, the latter hit back, saying, “My mouth is clean. Let the CM first shut the mouths of those who are with him.”
Denying that he is involved in any kind of corruption, the MLA said, “I was a very good person when I was in Congress, but I became a bad person after leaving the party,” he quipped.