The Bharatiya Janata Party tried to turn the tables on Congress regarding its allegations of ‘vote theft’ with Rajya Sabha MP Lahar Singh Siroya petitioning the Election Commission of India (ECI) on claims by former Union Minister C.M. Ibrahim of ‘purchasing’ 3,000 votes in the 2018 Karnataka Assembly elections to ensure the victory of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah in Badami.

Mr. Ibrahim was once a close associate of Mr. Siddaramaiah.

In a letter to the ECI in Delhi, along with an online link to the contents of Mr. Ibrahim’s speech, Mr. Singh sought an investigation describing the claims of the former Union Minister as an alleged ‘act of electoral crime’.

“Mr. Ibrahim, a former union minister and one of Mr. Siddaramaiah’s closest associates and advisors for decades, has made a shocking revelation. He has said that he, along with senior Congress leader B. B. Chimmanakatti, helped purchase 3,000 votes in 2018 so that Mr. Siddaramaiah could scrape through the Assembly election from the Badami seat. In the final count, Mr. Siddaramaiah’s victory margin in Badami was a mere 1,696 votes. It was a humiliating margin for a sitting chief minister. The NOTA votes (2,007) were higher than his victory margin,” Mr. Singh said.

“Mr. Ibrahim will do us a great favour if he tells us how, and from whom, he purchased the 3,000 votes to save his friend. He has also said that Mr. Siddaramaiah had paid for this purchase, but took six months to make the payment,” he added.

Pointing out that BJP leader B. Sriramulu had lost the election against Mr. Siddaramaiah in Badami in 2018, Mr. Singh claimed that more details would come out if Mr. Sriramulu spoke about this episode.

Taunting Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi for making allegations of vote theft in Bengaluru Central parliamentary constituency, he said, “Mr. Rahul Gandhi has opened a can of worms by coming to Bengaluru a few days back, and making wild allegations about electoral rolls. His party colleagues, including his CM, are more affected than anybody else.”