Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaih, his deputy DK Shivakumar, and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi have been summoned by a court in connection with the party's allegations of "40 per cent commission" during the previous BJP government's tenure.
According to India Today reports, the court has acted on a complaint filed by Vinod Kumar, a lawyer from the BJP's legal unit, regarding the "PayCM" posters and the '40 per cent Sarkara' website launched by Congress before the Karnataka Assembly elections last year. The posters targeted former Chief Minister Basavraj Bommai and alleged a 40 per cent commission rate under the BJP regime.
The Congress leaders have been directed to appear before a special MP/MLA court on March 28. Last week, the Karnataka High Court instructed the state government to conclude the probe into the "40 per cent commission" allegations within six weeks.
Three months after assuming power in Karnataka in May last year, the Congress government initiated a judicial probe into its corruption allegations against the previous BJP government. Union Minister Pralhad Joshi criticized the Karnataka government, asserting that instead of 40 per cent, the Congress regime takes 50 per cent commissions. This statement came in response to allegations of corruption made by Congress leader B Shivaramu against his own party. Shivaramu claimed that while the Congress had targeted the BJP for corruption, the situation had worsened under the Congress.