Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA and former Karnataka minister Ramesh Jarkiholi stirred a political controversy after he said that he would “give ₹6,000 to each voter” before the state assembly elections due in May.
Jarkiholi was speaking at a rally organised by his supporters in Sulebavi village in Belagavi Rural constituency on Friday. The remark came during his attack on Congress MLA Lakshmi Hebbalkar, who represents the area.
“I see that she is distributing gifts to voters in the constituency. Till now, she must have given kitchen appliances, such as a cooker and mixer, worth around ₹1,000. She might give another set of gifts. All that together may cost around ₹3,000. I urge you not to vote for our candidate if we don’t give you ₹6,000,” he said.
However, he said that in the six elections, he has successfully fought till now, he has not spent money. “My supporters campaign with their own money. I don’t give them any money,” he said
“Being in the Congress party during the last elections, I campaigned for her and got her elected. All those who are loyal to me worked tirelessly for her. We thought she would be a good candidate and work for the people of this constituency. But that did not happen. But she became disloyal, amassed wealth and did not develop the constituency. In the past five years, she developed herself. You can see how many clubs and wine shops have been opened along the roadsides in the past few years,” he added.
Meanwhile, on Saturday, Hebbalkar denied distributing gifts to voters and claimed that utensils were prizes distributed to women who had won competitions organised by The Lakshmi Tayi Foundation. “If they were political gifts, I should have been distributing them equally among men and women,” she said.
Further, Hebbalkar urged the Election Commission to take action against Jarkiholi. “He has openly announced that he will give gifts worth ₹6,000 to each voter. He has said he will spend more money than his opponents. Let’s see what action the Election Commission of India takes against these claims,” she said.
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