It's voting today, but last night was katil raat' in Hebbal

Bengaluru: With the campaign over for Saturday’s Hebbal bypoll, cash is flowing freely in the constituency as candidates make last minute attempts to win over voters.

Perturbed over the manner in which money power is being used to influence voters on what’s called katil raat, Congress and BJP leaders lashed out at each other on poll eve on Friday. Leading the charge for BJP was Union Law Minister D.V. Sadananda Gowda, who claimed Congress ministers and MLAs had gone to the extent of ‘adopting’  BBMP wards in the constituency. Targeting fellow Vokkaliga and Energy minister D.K. Shivakumar, Mr Gowda claimed he was flaunting his money power to win over voters. “Congress MLA Byrathi Basavaraj has adopted B. Nagenahalli ward, MLA Munirathna Naidu has adopted JC Nagar, Mayor Manjunath Reddy has taken charge of Ganganagar, Food and Civil Supplies Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao is in charge of Sanjaynagar ward and Information Minister Roshan Baig has taken charge of Manorayanapally as part of their secret operation to distribute money among voters,” he alleged.

Not the one to take things lying down, Mr Shivakumar was quick to react to the allegations saying Mr Sadananda Gowda was scared that his party candidate Y.A. Narayanswamy would lose the polls and was making baseless charges.

There are reports that one political party has distributed Rs 1,500 per vote while its rival raised the bar and allegedly distributed Rs 2500-3000. While one party is ready to splurge Rs 15-20 crore in total, the other might up the poll purchase cost to a staggering Rs 40 crore to win Hebbal, which it considers a prestigious catch.

Continuing his tirade against Mr Shivakumar, Mr Gowda said, “He is the captain of the Congress team in Hebbal. He has deputed party MLAs to ‘field’ in different wards I urge the Election Commission to send Congress MLAs and ministers out of the constituency before the polls.”