BJP picks audio clip to target Congress over Karnataka ‘cabinet berths’

NEW DELHI: The BJP on Friday seized on a leaked conversation allegedly between two Congress functionaries to claim that money was exchanged for ministerial berths in the recent expansion of the Karnataka cabinet and demanded replies from Congress’ Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi. BJP MP Anurag Thakur’s attack on Congress came after Karnataka BJP’s Chalavadi Narayanaswamy cited the audio record to allege that cabinet positions in the state had been secured through monetary influence. According to the audio tape of the conversation, 80% of the ministers secured their posts in the state cabinet by making such offerings, he added. “In Congress, one’s stature and chair depend on the offering they make to its high command,” he said and cited the audio to wonder if a senior Congress functionary like HK Patil was denied a berth because he did not pay the bribe. “The question is why a person, who is an accused in the Valmiki Tribes Development Corporation scam and is still facing an ED case, has been inducted into the cabinet?” Thakur asked, in an apparent reference to B Nagendra.