Hubballi: One call from M B Patil, Hipparagi BJP MLA will join Congress

Hubballi: At a time when the BJP is being blamed by the Congress for allegedly trying to poach Congress MLAs to topple the coalition government, an audio clip has gone viral in which JD(S) MLA Devanand Chavan is reportedly heard saying over phone that if Home Minister M.B. Patil calls him, BJP MLA Somanagouda Patil of Devarahipparagi will be the first to join the Congress.

In the audio clip, Nagathan MLA Mr Chavan of Vijayapura district is heard allegedly telling a local resident that Mr M.B. Patil is so close to Somanagouda Patil that if the minister calls him, the MLA will be the first to quit the BJP and join the Congress.

Later speaking to the media, Mr Chavan first admitted that it was his voice and that he was talking to a local resident on some issue. However, he asserted that whatever he said was at a personal level which had nothing to do with politics.

Meanwhile, Somanagouda Patil slammed Mr Chavan for his statement. "I am loyal to my party. Mr Chavan has made baseless allegations. He must apologise", he said. Mr Chavan first tried to defend himself saying that he did not talk politics but later changed his stand saying that some portion of his voice in the audio had been morphed.