Yeddyurappa diaries: Congress attacks BJP, ex-Karnataka CM says he will file defamation case

The Congress made the allegations on the basis of a report published by The Caravan magazine which claimed to have a diary with notes of Yeddyurappa having paid over Rs 1,800 crore to top BJP leaders that include names like Arun Jaitley and Nitin Gadkari.

Speaking to reporters over the issue, Congress leader Randeep Surjewala said: "Is it true or false? The diary with BS Yeddyurappa's sign on it was with the Income Tax Department since 2017. If that is the case why did Modi ji and BJP did not get it investigated?."

The Karnataka unit of the BJP called the diary as 'fake'.

"Randeep Surjewala just wasted good amount of media personals time talking absolute nonsense & releasing fake diary written & scripted by Congress themselves. Handwriting & the signature on the dairy released by @INCIndia is as fake as the diary itself," it tweeted.

Yeddyurappa says he will file defamation case:

The former Karnataka CM said the issues raised by the Congress are irrelevant and false.

He said he will also file a dafamation case against the 'concerned person'.

"They have planted the story in the media to gain mileage in the upcoming elections. Issues raised by Congress leaders are irrelevant and false. I'm discussing with the senior advocates to file a defamation case against the concerned person also," Yeddyurappa  told reporters.

The developments are taking place when the nation is gearing up for the Lok Sabha polls.

What did the magazine report?

As per The Caravan magazine report titled 'The Yeddy Dairies', "Documents accessed by The Caravan reveal that the income-tax department is in possession of copies of diary entries in the handwriting of the prominent BJP leader and the former chief minister of Karnataka, BS Yeddyurappa, that note payoffs amounting to over Rs 1,800 crore to the BJP’s national leaders, its central committee, and judges and advocates. Yeddyurappa recorded these alleged payouts in a Karnataka state assembly legislator’s 2009 diary, in Kannada, in his own hand. Copies of these entries have been with the income-tax department since 2017."

"The copies of the diary pages note that Yeddyurappa paid the BJP Central Committee Rs 1,000 crore; that he paid the finance minister Arun Jaitley and the transport minister Nitin Gadkari Rs 150 crore each; that he gave the home minister Rajnath Singh Rs 100 crore; and that he paid the BJP stalwart LK Advani and the senior party leader Murli Manohar Joshi Rs 50 crore each. Besides this, the entry notes, Yeddyurappa paid Rs 10 crore for “Gadkari’s son’s marriage," it said.