Alleging that Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai tried to bribe a few journalists by offering them ₹1 lakh in cash on the occasion of Deepavali, the Congress on Saturday demanded his resignation and asserted that a case should be filed under the Prevention of Corruption Act.
Even as the Karnataka Congress demanded a judicial inquiry, Mr. Bommai has said that he was unaware of “cash” being given to journalists along with sweets for Deepavali.
Rajya Sabha member and senior Congress leader Randeep Surjewala, who is the All India Congress Committee (AICC) in-charge for Karnataka, however, called it a “bribegate” in which the Chief Minister was directly involved.
“The Bommai government’s bribegate is now out in the open and this time the responsibility lies at the doorstep of the Chief Minister himself. This time, Mr. Bommai has surreptitiously, overtly and in a conspiratorial fashion tried to bribe the entire journalistic fraternity by sending ₹1 lakh cash to every journalist in Karnataka. Hats off to our journalist friends who openly exposed the bribegate,” Mr. Surjewala told reporters.
“Where has the money come from? Was this ₹1 lakh withdrawn from the public exchequer and then put in a packet to be sent to journalists on Diwali or has it come from your personal kitty?” he asked.
Stating it was not the first time that the 40 per cent “corrupt Bommai government” has been in the dock, the Congress leader claimed that the BJP government in Karnataka has become infamous for the “PayCM campaign that the people of Karnataka have launched”.
Mr. Surjewala claimed that under the BJP governance, there have been allegations of bribery and corruption in recruitment, postings, contracts and even in providing grants to religious mutts.
“CM Bommai has been caught red-handed in the bribery to journalists scam. A case of corruption under prevention of corruption act for offering bribes has to be registered against Mr. Bommai and he has to resign immediately,” the Congress leader said.
