Probe horse-trading bid in Karnataka, Congress asks Narendra Modi
Special Corresponden
New Delhi, May 20, 2018 22:30 ISTmore-in
Prime Minister Narendra Modi
Assembly ElectionsParty says the Prime Minister should prove his commitment to fighting corruption by ordering an investigation into the attempts in Karnataka.
The Congress on Sunday demanded that Prime Minister Narendra Modi order an investigation into alleged efforts by the BJP to buy Congress and Janata Dal(S) MLAs ahead of the trust vote in Karnataka on Saturday.
The party had released a series of tapes showing alleged attempts by the BJP to get the MLAs cross over to the BJP.
“The Prime Minister should prove his commitment to fighting corruption by launching an investigation into those MLAs who openly called up Congress and JDS) MLAs and offered bribes with an intention to break the rock-solid coalition of the Congress and the JD(S),” party spokesperson Jaiveer Shergill told presspersons here.
Mr. Shergill said the Congress would work with its partners to stitch a coalition to make the “Central government free from BJP” and free from hate politics.
“The truth is in 2014, a slogan in India was ghar ghar Modi. In 2019, the Congress will ensure it is ‘bye bye Modi’. Today, we are making friends and the NDA is making enemies,” he said.
Claiming that the government had looted the country of ₹10 lakh crore by raising excise duty on diesel and petrol, he said the “loot” was used in the bid to lure MLAs in Karnataka.
He took a dig at the Centre over the spiralling prices of petroleum products, saying the benefit that the government extended to the people by not raising the prices during the election should be extended for a year so that people get a “year-round relief from it”.