BENGALURU: Police filed an FIR over the complaint filed by Congress MLA Ganiga Ravi Kumar Gowda on poaching of MLAs. DCP Central Shekhar H Tekkannavar on Friday afternoon confirmed that the matter will be investigated.
Police have invoked IPC Section 170 and Section 171, for offering inducements, and IPC 506 regarding intimidation, based on Ganiga’s complaint with Police Commissioner B Dayanand.
The MLA told, ‘’The investigation officer called me regarding details of inducements and threats, and I have explained that I am now in Mandya. I will come to Bengaluru and provide all details.’’
Sources said the bribe offered per vote was about Rs 10 crore, making it one of the biggest attempts to bribe legislators in any parliamentary RS election. Sources also said that one of the legislators had also received a threat that central authorities would pay a visit if he did not fall in line. Meanwhile, a dinner was hosted by DCM D K Shivakumar to discuss important issues like the RS election and how to keep the flock safe from being poached, and ensure that all three nominees are elected without any setback.
Asked about HD Kumaraswamy’s meeting with Home Minister Amit Shah, Shivakumar said, “We are aware of their discussion. We are also aware of which MLAs they called and what they spoke. We know they are reaching out to our MLAs through relatives and friends. We not too worried as we are aware of what is in their arsenal.”
Asked if Congress MLAs received calls from Delhi, he said, “In all, 138 MLAs are with us. We will appeal to Janardhana Reddy to vote for our candidates. We have a mock voting after the session ends. We will work out the voting modalities. MLAs of other parties are in touch with us but I don’t want to disclose their names.”
The Congress needs 45 first preference votes to get all its candidates into the Rajya Sabha, and for an emphatic win, they are trying for 46 first preference votes. To ensure there is no cross-voting, all MLAs have to show the ballot paper to their party before casting the vote.