Bengaluru, Feb 21: In a major embarrassment to BJP in Karnataka, Dr Chandru Lamani, the party MLA from Shirahatti in Gadag district was caught red handed by the Lokayukta police while receiving a bribe from a contractor.
Bribe Delivery at MLA-Owned Hospital
On Saturday afternoon, the contractor Vijay Poojara was asked to deliver ₹ 5 lakh as part of the bribe money to the Balaji Hospital, owned by Dr Chandru Lamani at Lakshmeshwar in Gadag district.
While Vijay Poojara was handing over the money to Dr Chandru Lamani's PA Guru Lamani, the Lokayukta police apprehended the both. Sighting the Lokayukta police, Guru Lamani threw ₹ 50,000 out of the hospital and hid another ₹ 4.5 lakh in the medical shop of the hospital. The Lokayukta police will be producing Dr Chandru Lamani before the People's Representatives' Special Court.
BJP Maintains Silence on Incident
Embarrassed by the incident, the BJP has remained silent over the issue. BJP State President B Y Vijayendra said that he had just received the information and he would react after getting complete details of the incident.
Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar said that the BJP always talks about integrity and honesty and this is the level of honesty and integrity exhibited by their own MLA.
Meanwhile, tension prevailed in Lakshmeshwar, the home town of Dr Chandru. HIs supporters came to the street and started shouting slogans against the ruling Congress, saying that the entire episode was stage-managed and it was a conspiracy against Dr Chandru Lamani by the Congress party.
