The audio clips have taken Karnataka by storm and created a furore in Parliament. Coming amidst the state’s volatile political situation, the clips—released by chief minister H.D. Kumaraswamy as proof of alleged horse-trading attempts by the opposition BJP—prompted intense debate in the assembly, with speaker K.R.Ramesh Kumar expressing his anguish about the insinuations. One of the purported conversations mentioned a bribe of Rs 50 crore to the speaker. “It’s the wearer who knows where the shoe pinches,” said Ramesh Kumar as he requested the government for a fast-tracked probe into the matter.
Before Kumaraswamy’s dramatic press conference on February 8, an air of uncertainty hung over his government’s survival. The JD(S)-Congress coalition has been struggling to contain four of its legislators who have struck a rebellious stand, with concerns that a few others could also abstain or cross-vote, if such a situation arose during the ongoing budget session. But, by releasing the audio clips,...
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