Daijiworld Media Network - Bengaluru
Bengaluru, Mar 22: BJP state president and former chief minister B S Yeddyurappa on Friday March 22 vehemently denied the Rs 1,800-crore bribery charges levelled by the Congress, stating that the Congress was making baseless allegations as it had no other issue to talk about.
Earlier in the day, in a press conference led by Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala, the party cited an article in Caravan magazine about Yeddyurappa allegedly making payments amounting to Rs 1,800 crore to different BJP leaders like Rajnath Singh, L K Advani, Arun Jaitley and others. The alleged payouts were recorded by Yeddyurappa in a Karnataka state assembly legislator's 2009 diary, in Kannada, in his own hand, the report said. The Congress demanded a probe by the newly-appointed Lokpal into the issue.
Dismissing the allegations as baseless, Yeddyurappa in a statement released to the media said, "The Congress and its leaders are bankrupt of issues and ideas. They do not have any development issues to discuss in public. Basically, they are frustrated with growing popularity of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP. Congress leaders have realized that their defeat in the 2019 elections is imminent. They have lost the battle before it (has) begun.
He also said that all the issues being raised by the Congress including the one raised today about the alleged payment of crores of rupees have been already inquired and the documents have been found to be 'fake'.
"The IT (income tax) department officials have already probed the issue to find that the documents and signatures and handwritten notes are forged ones," Yeddyurappa said.
"The Congress leaders who are apt in carrying out all these atrocious and malicious campaigns have planted this story in the media to gain political mileage in the coming elections. All issues raised by the Congress leaders are irrelevant and fake. The issue is a closed chapter," he asserted.
Yeddyurappa also took to Twitter and said, "Absolute nonsense, disgusting & desperate efforts by @INCIndia to release such fake diary, prove it at the earliest or face defamation case (sic)."
BJP leaders strongly backed Yeddyurappa and accused the Congress of committing 'forgery'. BJP national president Amit Shah said on Twitter: "After all the fake issues have collapsed, the desperate are now relying on forgery. The Congress campaign is in shambles. Now even forgery can’t save them. Few loose sheets given by a Congress minister, is only as credible and reliable as Rahul Gandhi’s leadership skills."
Karnataka BJP tweeted: "After humiliating loss in Jind elections @rssurjewala seems to have lost his common sense in the process of proving his existence within @INCIndia. Calling a press conference only to peddle news without facts shows his desperation & disturbed mindset (sic)."
MLA C T Ravi called Congress a 'Lies Manufacturing Industry'.
The BJP also put up a few documents on Twitter in a bid to prove that the handwriting and signature in the diary were not that of Yeddyurappa, but forged.