The Karnataka Police on Tuesday booked state Congress chief DK Shivakumar for throwing Rs 500 currency notes at the crowd during an election rally last week, ANI reported.

On March 28, the senior Congress leader had showered the money on artists performing at the rally in Mandya.

The Election Commission had filed a complaint against him after the rally, based on which a non-cognisable offence was registered. Later, he was booked by the police at the direction of a court in Mandya.

On March 29, Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai had accused Shivakumar of using “all kinds of power” to influence voters ahead of the Assembly elections in the state on May 10.

“This act of DK Shivakumar shows that Congress thinks that the people of Karnataka are beggars but the people will teach them,” the Bharatiya Janata Party leader had said. “People are the real owners.”

However, the Karnataka Congress chief had said that he was only offering money to an idol of a deity that the crowd was carrying, reported India Today.