Karnataka Janata Party MLA from Aland in Kalaburagi district, B R Patil on Friday staged a dharna on the Vidhana Soudha premises demanding a CBI probe into TV sting operations on sale of votes in Rajya Sabha polls.
Patil (in pic), who claimed innocence, staged a ‘silent protest’ in front of the Kengal Hanumanthaiah statue for sometime. Later, he charged that the sting was a conspiracy to defame him. He also met Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and urged him to order a probe into the incident. Two national TV news channels on Thursday had aired footages of sting operations wherein some MLAs, including Patil, reportedly discussed sale of votes in the upcoming polls.
An agitated Patil used foul language against media persons at the Chief Minister’s home office. “...You think you (media persons) can do anything? Who would be responsible if something untoward had happened in my house after airing the so called sting,” Patil said in the presence of Siddaramaiah.
Patil even used B word against the media. But Siddaramaiah did not take exception to it. Instead, he simply shook his head and tried to appease the MLA saying that nobody can question his (Patil’s) integrity in public life.
Addressing reporters, Patil claimed that channels that have done the sting operations had tried to frame him though he did not speak a word about the Rajya Sabha polls, let alone sale of votes. He said he will file defamation case against the channels and even stage a dharna in front of their offices, if they continue to defame him.
He suspected that two persons from Delhi had recently joined an informal conversion he was having with his friends at Ashoka hotel in Bengaluru. JD(S) leader Danish Ali and a journalist from Bengaluru were also present. “These men from Delhi might have recorded the conversion using a hidden camera. Moreover, we never discussed any thing about sale of votes,” he said. “A probe will reveal all. The guilty should go to jail. Or, if I am proved guilty, let them hang me,” he stated.
JD(S) candidate for Rajya Sabha polls B M Farook claimed that he never made any statement on buying votes to win the elections. “I never said that I was ready to spend huge sum of money to buy votes. The JD(S) is a secular party and hence it has fielded me,” he added. He, however, said he was not planning to take any action against these TV channels.