An activist group has filed a complaint against the media adviser to Basavaraj Bommai.(FILE)
A massive row has hit the ruling BJP government in Karnataka over allegations that an official from the Chief Minister's Office gave "cash gifts" ranging from Rs one lakh to Rs two lakh fifty thousand along with sweet boxes to some journalists on Diwali.
While the opposition Congress on Friday demanded a judicial inquiry into what it called "Chief Minister's Office (CMO) 'sweet box bribe'", the BJP has dismissed the accusation.
Three of around a dozen journalists who allegedly received the hampers confirmed cash was distributed and two of them claimed that they had given it back to Chief Minister's Office (CMO), according to a report in The News Minute.
An anti-corruption activist group has filed a complaint with the Karnataka Lokayukta police against the media adviser to Basavaraj Bommai for allegedly attempting to bribe journalists.
Another journalist told the website that he was offered a similar sweet hamper and when he opened it he discovered there was Rs 1 lakh cash included in it. "I reported it to my editors. I told the CMO official that I really cannot accept this and that this is wrong," the journalist told The News Minute, which quoted a journalist saying the range was between Rs one lakh to Rs two lakh fifty thousand.
The Karnataka Congress, in a series of tweets, questioned the BJP: "Was the bribe given by misusing taxpayers' money? What is the source of this money? How much bribe was paid and what have you received in return? We have not called Chief Minister Bommai 'PayCM' for no reason."
Several other senior Congress leaders, including Jairam Ramesh and Randeep Singh Surjewala, demanded an explanation from the government.
"Hats off to the courageous scribes of #Karnataka, who exposed the #BribeGate of CM Bommai & his CMO," tweeted Mr Surjewala.
The BJP, meanwhile, has hit out at the Congress, claiming the "accusation is far from the truth".
The Congress launched the 'PayCM' campaign - a play on the name of the digital payments app 'PayTM' - in September accusing the BJP of corruption. The campaign had a QR code with an image of the Chief Minister which points to a website called "40% Sarkara", accusing the Bommai-led BJP government of charging 40 per cent commission on public works.