The State Congress on Wednesday demanded a probe by a sitting judge of the Karnataka High Court into alleged confessions made by A.H. Vishwanath, MLC, that Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa had sent a “big amount” of money to him during the byelections to the Hunsur Assembly constituency, but he had not received the amount, which led to his defeat.
Mr. Vishwanath, who was disqualified by the High Court from becoming a Minister, on Tuesday alleged that C.P. Yogeshwar, MLC, and Chief Minister’s political secretary N.R. Santosh had hatched a conspiracy to defeat him in the byelections held last December by not giving him the money provided by the Chief Minister.
Taking a serious note of his remarks, Congress leaders B.L. Shankar and V.S. Ugrappa asked Mr. Vishwanath to inform the public the quantum of amount.
“What is the source of the money sent by the Chief Minister? The truth could be revealed only through the probe into the source of money laundering by the High Court’s sitting judge,” Mr. Ugrappa said.
Referring to various developments surrounding the Chief Minister’s office in the recent days, the Congress leaders said Mr. Yediyurappa and BJP State president Nalin Kumar Kateel owe an explanation to the people on the source of money and the amount given to the party’s candidate during the byelections to Hunsur constituency.
“Is it ₹10 crore or ₹25 crore? The Chief Minister must explain to the people of the State,” Mr. Ugrappa said.
Incurring expenditure of a huge amount of money during elections was a violation of the model code of conduct. The Election Commission, CBI, ED, and IT should take up suo motu investigation of the case. Why are the agencies silent?, the Congress leaders asked.
