Congress can only give guarantee of loot: Nadda

Nadda cited the reported recovery of more than Rs 100 crore from some contractors in raids by probe agencies in Karnataka, and said it is shameful and an abhorrent joke with voters.

The BJP on Monday dubbed Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and his Deputy D K Shivakumar as “Collection Masters” in what was the saffron party’s blitz against the Congress government in the wake of the recent Income Tax raids in the state.

BJP national president J P Nadda claimed that corruption was part of the “Congress DNA.”

Writing on X (formerly Twitter) in Hindi, Nadda said I-T raids found Rs 100 crore in cash.

“This recovery was from the same contractors association members who had leveled false accusations against the BJP government. It is a crass joke on the people of Karnataka who voted the Congress to power,” he said. 

“The raids prove that the Congress government used the state to launder and raise money for the upcoming elections. Obviously, the only guarantee that Congress can give is the guarantee of corruption,” Nadda charged.

The Karnataka BJP charged that Siddaramaiah has set a target collecting Rs 1,000 crore to fund the Congress’ election in five states - Shivakumar Rs 250 crore, Excise Minister R B Thimmapur Rs 150 crore, PWD Minister Satish Jarkiholi Rs 115 crore, RDPR Minister Priyank Kharge Rs 100 crore, Health Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao Rs 75 Crore, Agriculture Minister N Chaluvarayaswamy Rs 125 crore, Social Welfare Minister H C Mahadevappa Rs 95 crore and Revenue Minister Krishna Byre Gowda Rs 90 crore.

Won’t run away or hide: DKS

Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar said he will “neither run away nor hide” and vowed to give a befitting reply to his critics, especially BJP and JD(S). “I’ll reply to the loot, falsehood, blackmailers, party president, former CM...but not now. I’ll fix a time. I won’t get scared of anybody,” Shivakumar said.