A video surfaced showing an aide of former Telangana Congress MLA SA Sampath Kumar apparently offering a Rs 5 lakh bribe in exchange for votes, reported The NewsMinute. While all political parties rustle up for the upcoming Telangana assembly election, scheduled to be held on December 7, this video which has briskly gone viral might leave the Congress in an embarrassing position.
The incident reportedly took place at Sankapur village in Alampur constituency in Jogulamba Gadwal district.
The man caught in the video, identified as Congress party Mandal president Doddappa, tries to assure the locals that he is a known face in the village. He is heard saying, “People who vote for Congress will vote for us and people who vote for TRS will vote for them but now you have been promised Rs 5 lakh. We will arrange for it and definitely ensure that you get the money.”
Doddappa also asks the locals to convince at least 100 people to sign an undertaking that they will vote for the Congress and said that the promised amount would be deposited in the village temple’s account. “If you convince the entire village to vote for Congress, ensuring Rs 5 lakh will be my responsibility. I’m giving you my word. There is no need to ask Sampath. As a Mandal president, I know everyone by name and face,” he adds.
The Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), taking offence, filed a formal complaint against Sampath Kumar with the Election Commission. The TRS MLC Srinivas Reddy alleged that Sampath Kumar, the former Congress MLA, was present at the event and said that it was a serious violation of the Code of Conduct. Accusing the Congress of resorting to such dirty strategies to procure votes, he also demanded strong action against the former Congress MLA.
The Election commission taking note of this incident has sought a report from the concerned District Electoral Officer after which necessary actions would be taken from their side.
The Parliament in July had passed the ‘anti-corruption bill’ whereby the bribe givers along with the takers would be penalised.
In May, as all the parties were gearing for the Karnataka elections, in its exclusive expose Republic TV had revealed how a certain ‘national party’ was engaging in ‘need-based social profiling’, which essentially translates to customizing bribes for voters to buy off votes. In context to the same incident, the Election Commission had then booked Congress MLA Munirathna Naidu in the cash for votes scandal.
