BJP sees conspiracy behind MLA’s arrest

Lokayukta Police took Shirahatti MLA Chandru Lamani, who has been arrested in a bribery case, to Bengaluru to produce him before a special court for public representatives.

A medical examination was conducted in Gadag before officers took him to Bengaluru.

Some BJP workers tried to stop the vehicle in which the MLA was being taken. They were dispersed.

The MLA was arrested when he was accepting a bribe of ₹5 lakh from complainant-contractor Vijayraj Pujar.

Meanwhile, an audio clip was widely circulated on social media platforms.

In this clip, the MLA is heard threatening the complainant Pujar over an old issue.

President of the Gadag District Contractors Association Vishwanath Patil has said that the allegations against the MLA are false.

“He is a good leader. He has been supporting us for all these years. It is wrong to blame someone like him. The State government already owes contractors a large amount of money in pending bills. In such a situation, if the contractors are to complain against MLAs, it will be very difficult for us to get our bills cleared,” Mr. Patil told reporters in Gadag.

Meanwhile, BJP leaders have said that district in-charge Minister H.K. Patil and other Congress leaders like Krishnagouda Patil are behind the conspiracy to get Dr. Lamani arrested.

“The complainant Pujar is a Congress office-bearer. He is part of the conspiracy to trap the MLA. It is not acceptable,” BJP leaders Basavaraj Chakrasali and Fakiresh Rattihali said in a media conference.

Police sources said that this is not the first time that Dr. Lamani has come under the Lokayukta scanner. As a government duty doctor, he faced a Lokayukta case for accepting a bribe from a patient. He later resigned and joined politics, the police said.