india

Updated: Jul 04, 2019 07:46 IST

Amid the controversy surrounding the resignations tendered by two Congress MLAs, a legislator of the coalition partner Janata Dal (Secular) has claimed that he was offered Rs 40 crore by the BJP to switch sides. The JD(S) legislator also said that dissident Congress MLA Ramesh Jarkiholi had demanded Rs 80 crore (from the BJP) to change parties in his presence.

The allegations were made by JD(S) Periyapatna MLA K Mahadev at a public meeting on Tuesday and came to light on Wednesday. Jarkiholi had sent in his resignation to Assembly Speaker KR Ramesh Kumar on Monday after his party colleague Anand Singh submitted his resignation to Kumar.

Mahadev said, “Ramesh Jarkiholi asked for Rs 80 crore to switch over in my presence. They (BJP) had kept Rs 40 crore in my room as well, but I told them I will complain to the Anti-Corruption Bureau if they do not take it back. They gave me money thrice, but I decided that I should not sell my soul for money. Else I could have left everything and also resorted to this low-level of politics.”

In the past also, legislators of the coalition have alleged that they had been approached by the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party with offers of cash and ministership in a future BJP government if they resigned from their post. Several audio clips have been released by members of the ruling coalition, purportedly of BJP leaders trying to poach MLAs. However, no action has been taken on these matters so far.

Speaker Ramesh Kumar said he would not accept Jarkiholi’s resignation as it was sent through a fax message. “This is not the postal department to accept a fax; I am the speaker of this Assembly! What is this sending it to me by a fax message; does he think I am his employee?” Kumar said.

Repeated attempts to reach Jarkiholi through phone calls and messages were unsuccessful. However, BJP state general secretary CT Ravi said it was condemnable that the JD(S) MLA did not approach the police when this alleged incident happened.

“The MLA was duty-bound to report this to the authorities and hand over all the evidence,” Ravi said. “I suppose this is the JD(S) way of maligning those who are willing to resign by creating a perception that they resigned because they received money,” Ravi said.

Meanwhile, water resources minister DK Shivakumar said that chief minister HD Kumaraswamy and deputy chief minister G Parameshwara would meet all the legislators of the two parties and sort out their differences. “On July 9 and 10, the chief minister will hold district-wise meetings with all the MLAs,” he said. “We will ask them to put forth their problems and address them,” he said.

The Monsoon session of the state Assembly is set to begin on July 12 and the coalition government is making all out efforts to nip the dissidence issue in the bud at the earliest. As Jarkiholi’s resignation has not been accepted, the coalition still has the support of 117 MLAs, excluding the Speaker, in the House, which has a strength of 223 after the resignation of Singh.