A purported video of senior Congress leader Siddaramaiah allegedly asking party leaders to get people to rallies, by paying them Rs 500 each, has gone viral on the social media.
It is not clear as to when the video was taken. It seems to have been recorded when the former Chief Minister was in Belagavi recently as part of party's ongoing "Praja Dwani" bus yatra ahead of Assembly polls, due by May.
In the video, Siddaramaiah can be seen chatting with KPCC working president Satish Jarkiholi, MLA Laxmi Hebbalkar, and MLC Channaraj Hattiholi, among others.
State BJP has hit out at the Congress leader by tweeting the video.
Reacting to the video, State Congress president D K Shivakumar said, "It is not true, we are not encouraging anyone, there is no need for us to give money, we don't have such practice."
Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai in Belagavi said, "It has been Congress's tradition to pay money and bring people, there is nothing new or surprising in it. It's their tradition and people are aware of it. Congress has been indulging in such things and now it has come to the fore."
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