A Bharatiya Janata Party MP from Karnataka has written to the Election Commission alleging that some Congress leaders were involved in the purchase of votes in the Badami Assembly constituency during the 2018 state polls to secure victory for Chief Minister Siddaramaiah.

In a letter on Tuesday, BJP leader Lahar Singh Siroya referred to a speech in which former Union minister CM Ibrahim purportedly said that he and Congress leader BB Chimankatti had helped purchase 3,000 votes to help Siddaramaiah “scrape through the Assembly election from the Badami seat”.

Ibrahim made the claims at an event in Mysuru on August 8, according to reports.

Ibrahim, a former close aide of Siddaramaiah, left the Congress to join the Janata Dal (Secular) in 2022. He was suspended from the JD(S) in 2023.

In the 2018 elections, Siddaramaiah contested from the Chamundeshwari and Badami Assembly constituencies. He defeated BJP leader B Sriramulu in Badami by a narrow margin of 1,696 votes but lost the Chamundeshwari seat.

Siroya added that a recording of Ibrahim’s speech contained a “specific claim” regarding purchase of votes.

He urged Ibrahim to explain how the alleged purchase of votes was carried out.

“He has also said…[Siddaramaiah]…had paid for this purchase, but took six months to make the payment,” Siroya added.

The BJP leader urged the Election Commission to take note of this claim of “gross electoral corruption” and order an investigation.

Responding to Ibrahim’s remark on Saturday, Siddaramaiah said that he had visited Badami only twice during the 2018 campaign and was “not aware” of any such claims, The Indian Express reported.

The BJP leader’s allegations came a week after Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said that his party had spent six months examining the electoral rolls in Mahadevapura Assembly segment of the Bengaluru Central Lok Sabha constituency and found discrepancies in more than one lakh names.

Gandhi alleged that this was evidence of the Election Commission having colluded with the BJP.

In a social media post, Siroya also said that he was “thankful” for Gandhi’s recent visit to Bengaluru because “what he has done ultimately is destabilise his own government”.

“His party men, including his CM, are more affected than anybody else,” Siroya said.