BENGALURU: Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar and IT/BT and RDPR Minister Priyank Kharge hit back at Shivamogga BJP MP BY Raghavendra for accusing the Congress State Government of funding the party in the upcoming Bihar Assembly elections.
Shivakumar, who is also the Karnataka Congress chief, asked the BJP to provide evidence to support its allegation. “MP Raghavendra should not join the list of hit-and-run leaders. His name should not be used as a synonym for lies,” Shivakumar said while responding to the allegation that the money is going from Karnataka to fund the Congress in Bihar polls.
Priyank also sought proof from Raghavendra. He alleged that Raghavendra’s father and former CM BS Yediyurappa had himself claimed that he had paid money to the BJP high command to become the CM.
“While sharing the stage with BJP leader Ananth Kumar, Yediyurappa had said in the open that there is an assumption that he became the CM free of cost but had to pay to the high command. Raghavendra might have forgotten this. Maybe that practice is prevalent in BJP. No wonder if you see the charges against the Maharashtra government and the dissolution of the Gujarat cabinet... it looks like they are not paying them (BJP high command) enough,” Priynak alleged.
He further charged that the BJP high command changed CMs in Karnataka by rotating the post between DV Sadananda Gowda, Jagadish Shettar, and Yediyurappa, whose removal remains a mystery. He also alleged that the BJP has indulged in removing elected government led by the opposition by purchasing the MLAs. “Where does the money come from for the BJP to carry out Operation Lotus?” he asked.
CM RUBBISHES CHARGES
On BJP’s allegations that the Congress was using Karnataka as its “ATM,” Chief Minister Siddaramaiah told reporters in Puttur, Dakshina Kannada, that it was the saffron party that had collected money for elections and was now accusing the Congress of doing it.
