Ahead of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly elections, Karnataka Congress president DK Shivakumar was booked by Mandya rural police on Tuesday for throwing currency notes of Rs 500 denomination at the crowd during an election rally last week, news agency ANI reported.
During the party’s Praja Dhwani Yatra on March 28, Shivakumar is seen throwing the Rs 500 notes at performing artists gathered around his vehicle.
A non-cognisable offence was registered against Shivakumar after a complaint was made by the Election Commission. Later, he was booked by Mandya rural police at the direction of a local court.
The incident, which took place near Bevinahalli in Srirangapatna, evoked sharp reactions from the ruling BJP, with Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai stating that the Congress party thinks that the people of Karnataka are beggars.
Reacting on Twitter, Amit Malviya, who is in-charge of the BJP’s National Information & Technology Department, wrote: “This is corruption money. If the Congress were to ever come to power in Karnataka, they will drain the exchequer and stop all development work.”
Shivakumar is contesting the upcoming and critical Karnataka assembly polls from the Kanakapura assembly constituency, and is among the chief ministerial aspirants.
Last week, CM Bommai had accused Shivakumar of luring BJP MLAs by offering them tickets in constituencies where the Congress has not yet named its candidates for the polls.
Speaking to mediapersons, Bommai had said that Congress leaders are frustrated, they don’t have proper candidates at all, so the KPCC chief is calling our party people. This shows that as a matter of fact the Congress party is bankrupt.
Meanwhile, the grand old party is reported to be grappling with the selection of candidates in several constituencies even as the party’s central election committee (CEC) is scheduled to meet on Tuesday to finalise the second list of candidates.
On Monday, a large group of Congress workers from various constituencies in the state staged a protest in front of Congress Bhawan at Bengaluru’s Queens Road, demanding tickets for their leaders in the second list of candidates for the state election scheduled on May 10.