Congress accuses BS Yeddyurappa of paying senior BJP leaders bribe of Rs 1,800 cr, demands to know who the 'beneficiaries' are

The Congress on Friday accused Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader BS Yeddyurappa of being involved in funneling Rs 1,800 crore to several of the party’s senior leaders. In a press conference held by Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala, the party launched an offensive on the ruling BJP by citing a report published by The Caravan magazine. According to the report, Surjewala said, former Karnataka chief minister Yeddyurappa had bribed top leadership of the government in 2009. “It (the Caravan report) mentions the names of senior BJP leaders from Rajnath Singh to (Arun) Jaitley. There is an allegation of a bribe of Rs 1,800 crore on the top BJP leadership,” the national spokesperson of the Rahul Gandhi-led party alleged.

R Surjewala,Congress on ‘Yeddy diaries’ BS Yeddyurappa made payouts to senior BJP leaders during his tenure as K'taka CM: It mentions names of senior BJP leaders from Rajnath Singh to Jaitley. There is an allegation of bribe of Rs 1800 crore on the top BJP leadership pic.twitter.com/kX8liCjYmj

— ANI (@ANI) March 22, 2019

“Is it true or false? The diary with BS Yeddyurappa’s sign on it was with the Income Tax Department since 2017. If that is the case why did Modi_ji_ and BJP did not get it investigated?” he questioned, terming the episode as ’the Yeddy Diaries’. The Caravan report states that Yeddyurappa made these records in his own handwriting in a Karnataka legislator’s 2009 diary in Kannada. Surjewala also claimed that the Congress had levelled this accusation in 2017 too, through a video recording in which Yeddyurappa and late BJP leader Ananth Kumar were allegedly heard talking about the paid amount. Surjewala also asked who the “beneficiaries” of the alleged bribe from Yeddyurappa were, and said, “It is a fit case to be investigated by the newly constituted Lokpal.”