CPI [M] leaders Sitram Yechury with Prakash Karat (Photo by Sonu Mehta/Hindustan Times via Getty Images)
CPI [M] leaders Sitram Yechury with Prakash Karat (Photo by Sonu Mehta/Hindustan Times via Getty Images) 
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Karat And Note Policy? Ex-Left Leader Alleges Prakash Karat Got Rs 100-Crore Bribe To Split Votes In Rajasthan Polls

BySwarajya Staff

Former Lok Sabha MP (CPM) AP Abdullakutty has made a shocking allegation that Prakash Karat received Rs 100 crore from the BJP in exchange for his party’s help in splitting the votes during elections. The MP represented Kannur twice between 1999-2009 on a CPM ticket. He was then expelled from the party. His reference was to the Rajasthan Assembly elections.

The Indian Express quoted him as saying, “By fielding just 28 candidates in Rajasthan, the CPM helped split almost 4 lakh secular votes. It was CPM’s presence that helped BJP candidates win in three constituencies. In Pilibanga constituency, BJP’s Dharmendra Kumar defeated the nearest Congress candidate by 278 votes. Here, the CPM candidate got 2,659 secular votes. Even though in most places, they could not secure their own deposits, they have played a brilliant game where the party is earning crores.”

Furthermore, the Congress leader said that CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury had been thinking about raising the issue with the party. Abudllakutty went on to join Congress in 2009 and won the Kannur Assembly constituency bye-election in 2011. He lost in 2016.