The Congress has lodged a police complaint accusing BJP leader and former minister Ramesh Jarkiholi of promising to pay Rs 6,000 to each voter if his party is elected to power in this summer’s Assembly elections.

The complaint also names Karnataka chief minister Basavaraj Bommai, BJP national president J.P. Nadda and state president Nalin Kumar Kateel as co-conspirators, arguing a party leader wouldn’t have made the promise without explicit knowledge of the leadership.

The BJP has distanced itself from Jarkiholi’s alleged comment, saying that if any party leader made such a remark it would reflect their “personal view”. State Congress president D.K. Shivakumar and leader of the Opposition P.C. Siddaramaiah lodged the complaint with the High Grounds police station on Wednesday.

Jarkiholi, a former water resources minister who had to step down over a sex scandal in March 2021, had allegedly told a public meeting in Belgaum on January 22 that “we will give Rs 6,000 to each voter”.

Jarkiholi is believed to be eyeing a party ticket. “Obviously, there is a group of BJP leaders behind this concerted design to bribe voters.

This is a blatant and brazen attempt to hijack democracy and (is an) obvious criminal offence,” the Congress complaint said.

It sought investigations by the Enforcement Directorate and the income-tax department into how the BJP could have amassed the huge sum needed to pay Rs 6,000 to each voter.

Given that Karnataka has 5 crore voters, the BJP would need Rs 30,000 crore to pay them off, the complaint said, arguing that this pointed to “ill-gotten money”.

“There are a whole group of individuals involved in this conspiracy and the same will become apparent on the arrest and interrogation of the above said four persons and confiscation of their cell phones, computers and other digital devices. The same is imperative to save democracy in the state of Karnataka,” the complaint said.

“It is alarming to see such a blatant defiance of the law and open criminality by those occupying the citadels of power and to use ill-gotten money for openly bribing the voters in order to manipulate and influence the outcome of the ensuing elections.”

Speaking on the controversy, state irrigation minister Govind Karjol recently said: “It is not the party’s statement if some individual makes such a statement. It might be his personal view.”

The BJP has been worried about anti-incumbency and loss of support among the powerful Lingayat community.

The forced replacement of B.S. Yediyurappa as chief minister in 2021 had prompted several Lingayat pontiffs, who wield considerable influence in Karnataka’s northern districts, to come out in support of the veteran politician.

A related factor worrying the BJP is the anger among the OBC Panchamashali sub-sect of the Lingayat community that has been campaigning for a higher slab of reservation.

With the BJP government yet to agree to the demand, the Congress is striving to lure the Panchamashali community back to its fold.