New Delhi, Feb 23, 2024: Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaih, his deputy DK Shivakumar and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi have been summoned by a court over the party’s allegations of "40 per cent commission" by the previous BJP government.
In the run-up to the Karnataka Assembly elections last year, Congress used their allegations to attack the BJP government and even put up “PayCM” posters with former Chief Minister Basavraj Bommai’s visage.
A QR code on the posters took users to a ’40 per cent Sarkara’ website that was launched by Congress to highlight how a 40 per cent commission rate allegedly became the norm under the BJP regime.
Vinod Kumar, a lawyer from the BJP’s legal unit, filed a complaint against the Congress leaders over the advertisements, and they have been asked to appear before a special MP/MLA court on March 28.
Last week, the Karnataka High Court asked the state government to complete the probe into the "40 per cent commission" allegations within six weeks.
Three months after the Congress government came to power in Karnataka in May last year, it ordered a judicial probe into its allegations against the previous BJP government.
Notably, Union Minister Pralhad Joshi slammed the Karnataka government last week and said instead of 40 per cent, the Congress regime takes 50 per cent commissions.
His remark came days after Congress leader and former minister B Shivaramu levelled allegations of corruption against his own party. Shivaramu claimed that while the party had targeted the previous BJP regime in the state over corruption, the situation has gotten worse under the Congress.
Courtesy: India Today