Yeddyurappa: Yes, I Discussed Payments to Central Leaders with Ananth Kumar, But I Dare Congress To Release Full Clip

Bengaluru: Hours after forensic reports reveled that voice samples of Union minister Ananth Kumar and former Karnataka chief minister B S Yeddyurappa matched the ones in a leaked video where they were heard discussing payments made to central leaders of political parties, Yeddyurappa admitted that he had spoken to Kumar on paying money to the high command.

On February 12, the two leaders were purportedly discussing about a diary recovered from a Congress leader which contained details of alleged payments made to the Congress leadership. In the clip, the two leaders purportedly discussed that they too had given money to the BJP leadership, but never kept a diary. The conversation was picked up by an open mic at a BJP event.

“We are not denying that we discussed the matter. There is no doubt about it. Let the Congress come out with the full clip of the conversation and the truth will be out,” said Yeddyurappa.

Bengaluru Police have filed an FIR in the case and are mulling to transfer the case to the State’s Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB).

When asked, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said, “I have not ordered any enquiry, police are doing their job.”

A report by the Forensic Sciences Lab accessed by CNN-News18 brings fresh trouble for the Karnataka BJP heavyweights months before Assembly elections in the southern state where the saffron party is trying to wrest power from the Congress.

“Let them bring 100 such cases. I have the strength to face them. The Congress-led state government is misusing agencies like the Anti-Corruption Bureau and the police to file such cases. There are 52 complaints lodged against the Congress leaders. Why hasn’t the ACB taken up the FIR in even one of them,” said Yeddurappa.

“We are not at all denying that we discussed about that. Now the High Court has already a given stay for one year. Our demand is to come out with the full clip. The truth will come out. We have discussed about it there is no doubt about it. We demand them to come out with full clip,” the former CM told News18.