Congress dade bribery allegations against BJP to influence Supreme Court, says Amit Shah

www.mangaloretoday.com

New Delhi, May 21, 2018 (News18): BJP chief Amit Shah on Monday accused Congress of trying to influence the Supreme Court’s decision on Karnataka by releasing fake audio clips of BJP leaders offering bribes to its MLAs. This comes hours after a Congress MLA claimed that a clip released by his party was “fake”.

Shah said, “Today, Congress leaders have admitted that the allegations of bribery were false and it was done to influence the Supreme Court.”

The Supreme Court on Friday ordered the Karnataka floor test to be conducted on Saturday itself, instead of 15 days later as was recommended by Governor Vajubhai Vala. It ultimately led to BS Yeddyurappa’s resignation from the CM post two days after being sworn-in as BJP failed to gather the required strength in the House.

Shah said, “The good thing is, at least this has increased Congress’s faith in institutions. Now they like EVMs, Judiciary and even Election Commission.”

In the run up to the Karnataka floor test that never took place, Congress released a string of audio recordings claiming that the BJP leaders were trying to ’poach’ its MLAs by offering money and ministries so that the BS Yeddyurappa government is saved.

One of these audio tapes released by the party allegedly had a conversation between Congress’ Yellapur MLA Shivaram Hebbar’s wife and BJP leaders, who allegedly offered him money. In the clip, a BJP leader is allegedly heard offering Rs 15 crore for Hebbar to switch to the BJP and abstain from voting during Saturday’s floor test, which eventually did not take place.

However, Hebbar on Monday dismissed the clip saying it is “fake” and the woman is not his wife. He wrote in a Facebook post, "This is not my wife’s voice and she has not received any such calls. The audio tape is fake. I condemn it."

The Karnataka election results on May 15 threw up a fractured verdict while BJP emerging as the single largest party with 104 seats — eight short of majority. Governor Vajubhai Vala invited the BJP to form the government and Yeddyurappa was soon sworn in as the chief minister.

As the floor test approached, the Congress alleged that the BJP was indulging in horse-trading and released the audio tapes to back their charges.

“There was no question of breaking Congress and JDS because till then, they had not staked any claim,” Shah said.

“We staked claim in Manipur and Goa because Congress was being lazy and didn’t stake their claim. The Governors there had no option but to call us,” the BJP president said while addressing the media at the BJP headquarters on Monday.