In audio BJP leader allegedly talks about ‘wiping off’ Kharge family, Cong calls it a murder plot
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Bengaluru: As the assembly election heats up in Karnataka, where most surveys predict a victory for the Congress party over the incumbent BJP government, the Congress party has released a purported audio clip of BJP candidate Manikanta Rathod raving about "wiping off" the wife and children of All India Congress Committee (AICC) president Mallikarjun Kharge.
Releasing an audio clip of a conversation in which Rathod allegedly spoke with a local BJP leader Ravi, Randeep Singh Surjewala, AICC general secretary in-charge of Karnataka, has alleged that a plot to kill Kharge and his entire family has been hatched by the BJP leadership.
The audio clip has been presented as evidence before the media by Surjewala to make his allegation of a murder plot against the AICC president by Rathod, who is in the fray against Kharge’s son Priyank Kharge in Chittapur constituency, and whom Surjewala termed the ‘blue-eyed boy’ of PM Narendra Modi and CM Basavaraj Bommai.
In the alleged audio clip, BJP leader Ravi is heard asking Manikanta Rathod, who is accused in several criminal cases, about the number of cases registered against him. Rathod responds with expletives against AICC President Mallikarjun Kharge and tells Ravi to obtain the list of "44 cases" against him from Congress leaders.
Ravi then requests for the phone number of someone from Kharge's camp in order to obtain further details. However, Rathod responds by saying that he does not have the phone number and threatens to "wipe off" Kharge's wife and children if he had it.
Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala claims that the BJP's desperation and frustration have now reached dangerous levels. Instead of outlining a vision for the development of Karnataka, the BJP allegedly creates one polarising issue after another to avoid answering for the 40% corruption allegations.
Surjewala further asserts that the BJP's abusive and divisive tactics are failing to make an impact. He claims that the BJP is now using assassination plots as a last resort.
It was reported that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was scheduled to campaign for Manikanta Rathod, but the campaign was cancelled due to Rathod's recent criminal conviction.