Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai announced on Saturday that an investigation would be carried out to verify the authenticity of an audio recording regarding an alleged plot to assassinate Congress President M Mallikarjun Kharge and his family. The move came after Randeep Singh Surjewala, Congress General Secretary and Karnataka in charge, accused a BJP candidate of hatching a plot to "wipe out" Kharge, his wife, and his entire family.

Surjewala played an audio recording of the BJP candidate from the Chittapur constituency, Manikanta Rathod, purportedly saying in Kannada that he would "wipe out" Kharge and his family. Speaking to reporters, Bommai said, “I do not know about the audio. That will be investigated. We will take it seriously and get it investigated."

Dismissing Congress's allegations, Rathod called the audio recording "fake". “It is all a lie. They are playing some fake audio. The Congress is levelling baseless allegations fearing defeat,” he said.

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Meanwhile, Surjewala stood by the recording and called it an "assassination plot". Surjewala added that there could be nothing more serious than this allegation against BJP leaders.

Surjewala alleged that BJP leaders were intimidated by Congress's popularity among Kannadigas and were now stooping to the lowest levels of politics by hatching an assassination plot against M Mallikarjun Kharge and his family. Surjewala added that the assassination plot had become a topic of discussion during the ongoing Karnataka elections.

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Furthermore, Surjewala alleged that the Chittapur candidate, Manikanta Rathod, was the "blue-eyed boy" of both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai.

With inputs from PTI