Bribe charge over waqf report: Vijayendra calls allegation illogical, Priyank posts old video of Manippady to bolster claim

State BJP chief said the Congress wants to use this issue to waste the time during the ongoing session at Beagavi. He said he would respond to the allegations if raised in the Assembly

State BJP president B.Y. Vijayendra on Sunday dismissed an allegation that he had attempted to bribe former Karnataka Minority Commission chairperson Anwar Manippady to hush up a report on waqf encroachments when the BJP was in power and his father B.S. Yediyurappa was the Chief Minister.

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Saturday and Minister for Rural Development and Panchayat Raj and IT and BT Priyank Kharge on the floor of the House on Friday claimed that Mr. Manippady had publicly accused Mr. Vijayendra of visiting his house and offering ₹150 crore to not discuss his report on the waqf property encroachments.

Old video on X

On Sunday, Mr. Siddaramaiah and Mr. Kharge stuck to their stand. Mr. Kharge on social media released an old press conference footage of Mr. Manippady, where he purportedly makes the charge that Mr. Vijayendra and other political leaders had tried to bribe him to hush up the report. Mr. Siddaramaiah even said that the State government had written to the Centre seeking a CBI inquiry.

However, contesting this claim, Mr. Vijayendra said the allegation lacked illogical, and the Congress leaders were making them as they were “disturbed” by allegations being hurled at them, especially the MUDA case against the Chief Minister.

“When Mr. Yediyurappa was the Chief Minister, Mr. Manippady had submitted a report on the waqf issue, regarding irregularities committed during the previous Congress government and its leaders,” Mr. Vijayendra said. “As the then Chief Minister’s son, why should I go to Mr. Manippady’s house and offer a bribe and that too to save Congress leaders?”

‘Will respond in Assembly’

The State BJP chief said the Congress wants to use this issue to waste the time of the legislature during the ongoing Belagavi session. He further said that he would respond to the allegations if raised in the Assembly.

Meanwhile, speaking to reporters in Mangaluru, Mr. Manippady said that Mr. Vijayendra had not come to his house. “I only spoke to him and expressed displeasure about the delay in tabling the report when Mr. Vijayendra was party vice-president and Mr. Yediyurappa was the Chief Minister once again. There was no ₹150 crore offer,” he said.

Reacting to this, Home Minister G. Parameshwara said that there was video footage of Mr. Manippady accusing Mr. Vijayendra and the media had covered it back then. “If he is changing his words now, I don’t know how to respond. He himself had made such claims. The issue may be raised in the Assembly,” he said.

The controversy gains significance at a time when the BJP is trying to corner the ruling Congress over notices served to farmers and others by the waqf board on properties they allegedly encroached upon. The BJP has termed it “minority appeasement”.

Mr. Manippady, when he served as chairman of the Karnataka State Minority Commission, had prepared the report, submitted it to the then BJP government in March 2012. It was tabled in the legislature in 2020, when the BJP was again in power.

Published - December 15, 2024 08:17 pm IST