Karnataka BJP candidate K Sudhakar booked for attempting to bribe IAS officer to release money seized by EC

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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K Sudhakar, a former Karnataka minister and BJP candidate from the Chikkaballapur Lok Sabha seat has been booked for allegedly asking IAS officer Munish Moudgil to release ₹4.8 crores, which was seized by the Election Commission.

Dasharath V Kumbar, a member of the Static Surveillance Team (SST), said in a complaint that on April 25, he received a message from Moudgil, Model Code of Conduct (MCC) officer, at around 11:44 am stating that ₹10 crore was kept at a place, The Indian Express reported.

Later on, the Election Commission officials, along with the Income Tax officers, carried out a raid in the Madavara village under the Chikkaballapur constituency.

“They found ₹4.8 crores cash kept for distribution among the voters,” Kumbar noted.

Further, IAS officer Munish Moudgil claimed that he received a call on WhatsApp and three messages from a number, which was later identified as Sudhakar’s number, asking for the seized money to be released. Later on, he filed a complaint with the police.

A case in this regard has been registered by the Madanayakanahalli police under Sections 171E (bribery), 171F (undue influence or personation at an election), 171B (bribery to exercise any electoral right), 171C (undue influence at elections) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) as well as Section 123 (corrupt practices) of the Representation of the People Act, the national daily reported.

For the Lok Sabha elections, Sudhakar has been fielded by the BJP against Congress’ Raksha Ramaiah from the Chikkaballapur constituency. During the 2023 Karnataka Assembly elections, Sudhakar lost the Chikkaballapur seat to Congress leader Pradeep Eshwar.

Chikkaballapur was among the 14 constituencies in Karnataka that went to polls in the second phase on Friday, April 26. Voting for the remaining 14 seats will be held in the third phase on May 7. The counting of votes will be done on June 4.

Meanwhile, a case has also been registered against BJP MP Tejasvi Surya after a complaint from a poll officer for allegedly ‘soliciting votes on the ground of religion’.

On Thursday, Surya posted a video of the Ram Temple in Uttar Pradesh’s Ayodhya and wrote, “For Bharatiya has to survive, vote for Modi!”

“Case is booked against Tejasvi Surya MP and Candidate of Bengaluru South PC on 25.04.24 at Jayanagar PS u/s 123(3) for posting a video in X handle and soliciting votes on the ground of religion,” Chief Electoral Officer, Karnataka, wrote on social media site X.

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KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow