Ex-Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yeddyurappa on Friday denied all allegations made by a report on The Caravan magazine and by the Congress that he paid bribes to the tune of Rs 1,800 crore in 2009. 

The BJP state president claimed this was a malicious attempt by the Congress to counter the popularity of PM Narendra Modi, with less than a month to go for the Lok Sabha polls. He also claimed that all these allegations had been raised before and were already found to be baseless by the Income Tax Department.

“Congress party and its leaders are bankrupt of issues and ideas. They don't have any development issues to discuss in public. Basically, they are frustrated with the growing popularity of the Prime Minister Narendra Modiji and BJP. Congress leaders have realised that their defeat in the 2019 elections is imminent,” he told reporters at a hurriedly called press conference on Friday.

He added, “They have lost the battle before it began. To be frank, all the issues being raised by Congress including one raised by them today about alleged payment of crores of rupees have been already inquired and it was found that the documents are fake. IT department officials have already probed the issue to find that the documents and signatures and handwritten notes are forged. Congress leaders who are apt in carrying out all these atrocious and malicious campaigns have planted this story in the media to gain political mileage in the coming elections. Above all, issues raised by the Congress leaders are irrelevant and false. The Issue is a closed chapter.” 

On Friday afternoon, the Congress demanded a Lokpal investigation and called Yeddyurappa a “habitual offender”.

This comes just hours after the Congress national spokesperson Randeep Surjewala held an explosive press conference in New Delhi, attacking Yeddyurappa for allegedly paying  Rs 1,800 crore to BJP national leaders, including Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.