Karnataka ministers reject BJP's charges of fundraising for Bihar polls

Bengaluru, Oct 21 (PTI) Karnataka Ministers on Tuesday lashed out at the opposition BJP for their allegation that the ruling Congress was raising funds for the Bihar assembly elections.

BJP leaders Jagadish Shettar and B Y Raghavendra have accused state ministers of "fundraising" for the upcoming Bihar polls, claiming that officials are being pressured to contribute, with funds now collected under the guise of renewals.

Shettar also alleged that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah hosted a recent cabinet dinner for his cabinet colleagues in connection with the polls.

Shivamogga MP Raghavendra is the son of former Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa and elder brother of BJP Karnataka president B Y Vijayendra.

Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar, who is also the Congress state president, on Tueseday asked Raghavendra to produce evidence to back his claim.

“I think, Vijayendra and Raghavendra, all of them are in the practice of doing it. So they are recalling it. We don’t practice it and we don’t need it. He’s just making a hit and run statement. Where is the evidence? If there is evidence, let them show it," he told reporters in Bengaluru.

Claiming that the BJP fears Congress, Shivakumar asserted that INDIA bloc will come to power in Bihar.

Reacting to the saffron party's charge, state Information Technology and Biotechnology Minister Priyank Kharge posted an old video of former Union Minister late Anant Kumar and Yediyurappa engaged in an alleged conversation about Rs 1,800 crore in black money sent to the BJP high command.

"Have the @BJP4Karnataka leaders forgotten that it was revealed in the conversation between Shri Yediyurappa and the late Shri Anant Kumar that Rs 1800 crore in black money was given to the BJP high command?" Kharge asked in a post on 'X' on Tuesday.

Reminding Raghavendra of his father's statements, the minister said, "It was BJP members who said that Rs 2,500 crore must be paid for the Chief Minister's post, and it was also BJP members who said that Rs 60 crore to Rs 70 crore must be paid for ministerial positions." It was BJP members who revealed that the BJP high command had put positions up for sale and turned it into a business, Kharge alleged.

"The credit for dedicating Karnataka's resources to the high command belongs to the BJP, not to the Congress," the Minister stated.

State Transport Minister Ramalinga Reddy too hit back at the BJP calling its claims "laughable".

"The Karnataka BJP’s factory of lies is once again working overtime! Your baseless allegation that our Congress government is funding the Bihar elections is laughable. Is there no end to your series of lies?" the Minister questioned.

He accused the BJP of using corrupt and illegal funds for elections.

Reddy cited 'Operation Lotus,' under which horse trading happened, and the democracy was undermined.

"You, who are the very Gangotri (source) of corruption, trying to portray yourselves as clean-handed today, is the biggest joke of the century!" Reddy said in a post on 'X' in Kannada. PTI GMS ROH