BJP trying to destabilise Karnataka government, claims Congress

The Congress on Tuesday accused the BJP of trying to destabilise the Siddaramaiah government in Karnataka like “they did in Uttarakhand and Arunachal Pradesh”.

The Congress’ charges come a day after it claimed to have exposed top BJP leaders B S Yeddyurappa and Ananth Kumar allegedly discussing sharing of “ill-gotten” money with their party high command.

“Attempts are being made to destabilise Congress governments like in Arunachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand. Now, it is Karnataka. The dirty tricks department of the BJP is working overtime,” Dinesh Gundu Rao, the working president of the Karnataka Congress, told reporters here.

Congress' chief spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala said fortunately for the Karnataka government, the BJP conspiracy was taped and the leaders were caught red-handed confessing “their own acts of corruption”.

At the All India Congress Committee (AICC) headquarters, the Congress leaders also played the video of Yeddyurappa and Ananth Kumar apparently admitting to paying money to the party high command when in power in the state.

Last week, Yeddyurappa had claimed that Siddaramaiah paid the Congress high command Rs 1,000 crore to stay in power in the state and also sought kickbacks to the tune of Rs 150 crore for sanctioning the steel flyover project in Bengaluru.

Gundu Rao accused Yeddyurappa of trying to destabilise the Karnataka government by levelling “wild allegations” based on a “certain diary” to malign political opponents.

To a question whether seeking political funding was illegal, Surjewala said the “tone and tenor” of the minister clearly suggested otherwise. He claimed that the Cabinet minister has not been assigned the role of seeking political funding for the BJP.

“Nobody is suggesting that Ananth Kumar or Yeddyurappa are talking of contributing Rs 20,000 (legal limit for donations in cash) to the party fund,” the Congress spokesperson said adding that the “inference was loud and clear” that the BJP leaders were taking about sharing of “ill-gotten money”.