Congress is \"gateway to dirty politics\", says Karnataka CM

HUBBALI: Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Thursday hit out at the Congress dubbing the party a "gateway to dirty politics".

He was reacting to former state Congress president and MLA Dinesh Gundu Rao, who had alleged that K S Manjunath alias 'Santro' Ravi, who allegedly has a criminal background, was a BJP worker.

A 12th standard dropout, 51-year-old Ravi faces charges of sex trafficking, rape and atrocities and is presently at large. Opposition parties have alleged that he was close to many ministers in the Karnataka government. Ravi had been allegedly operating for the past two decades.

Quoting a media report, Rao tweeted, “Santro Ravi himself claimed that he is a BJP worker. Such people can only exist in BJP. BJP is full of cheats, greedy, bribe-taking and sexual predators. What moral rights do the hypocrite BJP leaders have to talk about culture, customs and ideas?”

Bommai told reporters: “The Congress is politically bankrupt. Dinesh knows well the kind of people there in his party. I will not stoop to their level".

“Congress is a gateway to dirty politics. Let them keep their house in order first,” he added.

The CM also said he has given instructions to verify if Ravi is a BJP worker or not.