Bengaluru, Oct 21 (PTI) Karnataka Ministers on Tuesday hit out at the opposition BJP for alleging that the ruling Congress was collecting funds for the upcoming Bihar Assembly elections.

Senior BJP leaders Jagadish Shettar and B Y Raghavendra accused Congress ministers of "fundraising" for the Bihar polls, claiming that officials were being pressured to contribute, with money collected under the guise of renewals. Shettar further alleged that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah recently hosted a cabinet dinner linked to the Bihar elections.

Raghavendra, a Shivamogga MP, is the son of former Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa and elder brother of Karnataka BJP president B Y Vijayendra.

Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar, who also heads the state Congress unit, dismissed the allegations and demanded proof.

"I think Vijayendra and Raghavendra are recalling their own practices. We don’t do it, and we don’t need to. He’s just making a hit-and-run statement. Where is the evidence? If there is any, let them show it," Shivakumar told reporters in Bengaluru.

Claiming that the BJP fears the Congress, Shivakumar added that the INDIA bloc would come to power in Bihar.

State IT and BT Minister Priyank Kharge also hit back, posting an old video of former Union Minister late Ananth Kumar and Yediyurappa purportedly discussing Rs 1,800 crore in black money sent to the BJP high command.

"Have the @BJP4Karnataka leaders forgotten that it was revealed in the conversation between Shri Yediyurappa and the late Shri Ananth Kumar that Rs 1,800 crore in black money was given to the BJP high command?" Kharge asked in a post on 'X'.

Reminding Raghavendra of his father’s earlier statements, Kharge said, "It was BJP members who said Rs 2,500 crore must be paid for the chief minister’s post, and it was also BJP members who said Rs 60 crore to Rs 70 crore must be paid for ministerial positions." He alleged that it was the BJP that had "turned Karnataka’s resources into a business." "The credit for dedicating Karnataka’s resources to the high command belongs to the BJP, not to the Congress," Kharge added.

State Transport Minister Ramalinga Reddy also dismissed the BJP’s allegations as "laughable." "The Karnataka BJP’s factory of lies is once again working overtime! Your baseless allegation that our Congress government is funding the Bihar elections is laughable. Is there no end to your series of lies?" Reddy said in a post on 'X'.

He accused the BJP of using corrupt and illegal funds for elections and cited the ‘Operation Lotus’ episode, during which horse-trading allegedly took place.

"You, who are the very Gangotri (source) of corruption, trying to portray yourselves as clean-handed today, is the biggest joke of the century!" Reddy said in Kannada on 'X'.

Reacting to Kharge’s post, Ananth Kumar’s daughter Aishwarya Ananthkumar accused the minister of stooping to a new low.

"Shri @PriyankKharge avare, this is a new low even for you. After your failed attempt to defame the RSS, you have now decided to come after Shri Ananthkumar ji, whose work for Karnataka even your own party leaders have admired," she wrote on 'X'.

"In case you have forgotten, let me remind you that the discussion in this video is about the infamous diary of a Congress CM, which had the initials of your party’s high command and large amounts of kickbacks given to them," she added.

"This tweet of yours will come back to haunt your own leaders. Remember, truth has a tendency to reveal itself," Aishwarya said. PTI GMS SSK ROH

Illegal political fundraising allegations prompt denials as parties exchange accusations over illicit election funding and demands for proof. Allegations of illegal political fundraising and diversion of black money for the Bihar Assembly polls are made by opposition leaders, claiming coercion of officials and use of renewals as a cover; ruling ministers deny the charges and demand proof while countering with allegations of prior undisclosed transfers and kickbacks attributed to the opposition, raising issues of evidence sufficiency, campaign finance transparency, and potential misuse of state resources.