Karnataka: I was offered money to join BJP, says MLA who left Congress

The minister said, while he joined BJP without taking any money, he was offered a sum by the ruling-party

BJP MLA Shrimant Balasaheb Patil on Sunday said he was offered money to leave Congress and join BJP before the toppling of the Congress-JDS government in Karnataka.

Briefing mediapersons here, Patil said, "I have joined BJP without taking any offer of money. I was offered money to join the party. I could have asked for as much as I wanted. I did not ask for money, I asked them to give me a minister's post to serve the people."

"I do not know why I was not given a ministership in the present government. But I have been promised that I will get a minister's post in the next expansion. I had a word with Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai," he added.

Patil is an MLA from Kagwad Assembly constituency in Karnataka. He had a long association with Congress but changed camp in July 2019. He was one of the 16 MLAs who joined BJP from Congress and Janata Dal Secular (JDS) leading to the fall of the coalition government led by then Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy.

After the Yediyurappa government formed in the state, he was given a ministerial berth. However, he was dropped from the cabinet after BS Yediyurappa resigned and Basavaraj Bommai became the chief minister.

Notably, the Monsoon session in Karnataka Assembly is beginning tomorrow. The Congress and JDS members are believed to raise the issue in the House.

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