Congress alleges BS Yeddyurappa had given 50 notes of Rs 2,000 to the woman.
Highlights
- Yeddyurappa is seen handing over bundle of Rs 2,000 notes to a woman
- Local BJP leaders claim money was compensation given to the family
- Karnataka will go to polls in two assembly seats on Sunday
A day after the BJP accused a Congress leader of paying off voters ahead of by-elections on Sunday, a video has emerged that shows the BJP's boss in Karnataka BS Yeddyurappa handing over money to a family in Chamrajnagar district, about 150 km from the capital Bengaluru.
Two assembly seats, Gundlupet which comes under Chamrajnagar district and Nanjangud, will go to polls on Sunday. In Gundlupet, the by-elections were necessitated due to the death of the Congress' HS Mahadeva Prasad, who had won every election in this seat since 1994 irrespective of which party he was in. His wife, Gita Mahadev Prasad, is contesting on a Congress ticket.
According to the video that has gone viral, Mr Yeddyurappa is seen handing over a bundle of Rs 2,000 notes to a woman at his feet. It has reached the Election Commission too that is expected to examine the two videos that show politicians distributing money to voters ahead of the by-elections.
NDTV cannot verify the authenticity of the video.
Local BJP leaders claim the money was compensation given to the family as the breadwinner of the family had committed suicide due to the agrarian crisis. It is not clear if the money, Rs 1 lakh, was the compensation from the former Chief Minister's personal funds, or the party.
But giving money to voters is an offence under the model code of conduct that has been in force, the Congress has said, alleging that the former Chief Minister had given 50 notes of Rs 2,000 to the woman, Rs 1 lakh in all.
The video comes just a day after BJP lodged a complaint against Congress women's wing president Lakshmi Hebbalkar's accusing her of distributing money, following up on the video that showed her holding bundles of notes earlier in the week.
Congress leader M Veerappa Moily said it was most unfortunate that Mr Yeddyurappa had indulged in the corrupt practice. But he suggested this wasn't a surprise, recalling how the powerful Lingayat leader had launched Operation Kamala "which affected several MLAs that time". Mr Moily's reference was to the BJP leader encouraging lawmakers from the Congress and JD (U) to defect after Mr Yeddyurappa took over as Chief Minister in 2008. The BJP was the single largest party with 110 seats but fell short of the majority mark in the 224-seat assembly.