Team News Riveting
Bangalore, October 13
Congress today found itself in a major embarrassment as conversation of two senior leaders were caught on camera in which they accuse Karnataka Congress Committee President of DK Shivakumar of taking bribes by making big settlement deals.
Former Lok Sabha member VS Ugrappa and the media coordinator of the Congress Party MA Salim were conversing about Income Tax raids in Karnataka, especially on a political consultancy firm called ‘Designboxed’.
Salim reportedly said: “Sir you don’t know….(inaudible) is worth Rs 50 to 100 crore. If he has made so much money, then imagine how much the other guy has. He is just a collection agent.” Ugrappa responded: “We all were adamant and made him party president. But he is not rising because of all these reasons.”
The duo was discussing the scams in the Irrigation Department in which Shivakumar was allegedly involved when he was Irrigation Minister in the coalition government of Congress- JD(S). The alliance was in power for 14 months and collapsed in June 2019.
Shivakumar said he cannot deny that the conversation did not take place but rejected the content of the conversation.
Caught on the wrong foot, Congress got into damage control mode and swiftly acted to expel Saleem from the party for six years and serve a show-cause notice to Ugrappa, who is Congress spokesperson. He has been asked to respond in three days.
However, Ugrappa clarified Saleem was only briefing him what the BJP people have been talking about the raids carried out by the Income Tax (I-T) Department since October 7 against three major contractors executing irrigation and highway projects on 47 premises in four States, including Karnataka and Maharashtra.
The incident is also linked with the groupism in the Karnataka Congress and an outcome of the tussle between the factions of Shivakumar and Siddaramaiah. Ugrappa and Saleem belong to Siddaramaiah’s camp.
