Congress released two videos claiming it showed Karnataka Bharatiya Janata Party leader B Sriramulu trying to bribe a relative of former Chief Justice of India KG Balakrishnan for a favourable verdict in an illegal mining case involving Obulapuram Mining Company.
The videos are said to be part of a sting operation which was carried out in 2010. Congress released the video on the last day of campaigning in Karnataka. The videos show Sriramulu, alleged middlemen, and the son-in-law of the chief justice, discussing the purported payment of a Rs 100 crore bribe by Janardhana Reddy.
Sriramulu is believed to be a close friend of Obulapuram Mining Company owner Janardhana Reddy, who has pitted against Chief Minister Siddaramaiah in Badami constituency in the Assembly elections on May 12. The results will be declared on May 15. Janaradhana Reddy’s brother Somasekhar Reddy is the BJP’s candidate from Ballari City.
On May 10, 2010, the Supreme Court had ruled in favour of Janardhana Reddy, a day before Balakrishnan retired.
“Sriramulu is now the BJP’s star campaigner,” Karnataka Congress Working President Dinesh Gundu Rao said, according to ANI. “We demand that the prime minister break his silence and answer the people of Karnataka on why the Bellary gang has been brought back to loot Karnataka. We demand an immediate high-level inquiry into this bribery scandal.”
The BJP dubbed the clip as fake news and asked people not to believe them blindly. “Instead, rather verify it. There is no need to believe what the Congress is saying,” BJP President Amit Shah said at a press conference.
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