Karnataka MLA Claims He Was Offered Money To Leave Congress And Join BJP

Shrimant Balasaheb Patil, BJP MLA in Karnataka said, "I was in the Congress at that time and I was offered money to join the BJP."

Karnataka BJP MLA Shrimant Balasaheb Patil

New Delhi: Karnataka BJP MLA Shrimant Balasaheb Patil has made a big claim. He said that "when I was in the Congress party and there was a JDS-Congress government in the state, I was offered money to join the BJP."

"I would have got as much as I asked for but I had asked them for ministerial post for serving the people," Patil claimed. 

Shrimant Balasaheb Patil further said, "I joined BJP without taking money. I was asked how much money I wanted but I refused to take the money. I asked for a ministerial post for serving the people. I don't know why I was not made Minister in the present government, but I have been promised that I will be given the ministerial post in the next expansion.''

Shrimant Balasaheb Patil is an MLA from Kagwad area of Karnataka. Earlier he was in the Congress but in July 2019 he changed the party and joined BJP. Balasaheb Patil is one of the 16 MLAs who left Congress and Janata Dal secular (JDS) and joined BJP.

Due to switching the sides by these 16 MLAs, the coalition government led by the then Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy was reduced to a minority in the state. After which the Congress-JDS coalition government collapsed and then BJP formed its government in Karnataka. The BJP had formed the government under the leadership of B.S. Yediyurappa.