BJP alleges 'offerings' decides ministerial berths in Cong after purported Karnataka audio clip surfaces
Controversy centres on alleged conversation involving Congress MLA RB Thimmapur and district president SG Nanjayyanamatha
The BJP on Friday attacked the Congress after the emergence of a purported audio clip allegedly featuring former Karnataka Minister and Congress MLA RB Thimmapur and Bagalkot District Congress president SG Nanjayyanamatha, claiming that it suggested ministerial positions in the Congress were determined by “offerings” made to the party’s high command.
Talking to the media, senior BJP leader Anurag Thakur said, “In Congress, a person’s stature and position are decided on the basis of the offerings made to the high command. I am not saying this. This is revealed in a conversation among Congress leaders from the audio tape that came out."
He claimed the purported conversation contained allegations that “80 per cent of ministers are those who pay for their seats through offerings,” and questioned who constituted the Congress high command, who allegedly received such offerings, when and where they were made and how many ministerial berths were allegedly secured through this practice.
Thakur further said Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and party president Mallikarjun Kharge “will have to answer these questions.”
Further attacking the Congress, the BJP leader linked the controversy to the alleged Valmiki Corporation scam, questioning the inclusion of a leader facing an Enforcement Directorate probe in the Karnataka Cabinet.
“When we ask Kharge ji, he points towards his high command, towards the Gandhi family. The question arises: why was a person who was found involved in corruption in the Valmiki scheme, against whom an ED case is ongoing, given a place in the new cabinet?” Thakur asked.
He further alleged that money allegedly embezzled from a scheme meant for the welfare of Dalits may have been used as an “offering” to secure a cabinet berth, and questioned whether a new ministerial position had been created to reward the individual.
The controversy centres on an audio clip purportedly featuring a conversation between former Karnataka Minister and Congress MLA RB Thimmapur and Bagalkot District Congress president and former MLA SG Nanjayyanamatha. The recording allegedly contains remarks questioning the Congress high command’s role in selecting ministers.
