The purported letter was addressed to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah (File)
The Congress has dismissed a letter, allegedly written by its MLAs in Karnataka to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, that has now gone viral, as fake. The purported "fake" letter is signed by 10 MLAs of the ruling Congress in the state and highlights several issues.
The letter claimed that district in-charge ministers were not paying heed to the MLAs' requests and that funds allocated for their constituencies were not being released. In another shocking claim, the letter mentioned unidentified third parties approached the MLAs asking for commissions to facilitate the release of funds.
Speaking to the media, one of the 10 MLAs said that a letter was written, but he disputed the contents of the letter that have appeared. Claiming that the allegation of money being demanded is not correct, he said that the letter that has appeared is doctored.
Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar has dismissed the letter as fake. BR Patil, the MLA whose name appears on the letterhead, also questioned the authenticity of the letter, accusing the BJP of "creating" it.
"This is my letterhead and I keep serial numbers so that pages are not misused. However, the letter being circulated does not have a serial number. It's fake. Maybe the BJP created the fake letter. There has to be an investigation into this," Mr Patil said.