MB Patil won elections by spending crores: Shamanur Shivashankarappa

MB Patil, who was recently allotted the Home portfolio in the Karnataka government, had won elections by spending crores, former state minister and senior Congress leader Shamanur Shivashankarappa has alleged.

In a veiled attack on Patil, Shivashankarappa, who is the All-India Veerashaiva Mahasabha president, said that some people in the Lingayat sect are trying to destroy the community with "Benami money and corruption."

"Some people in our community are trying to destroy us by saying different things and some with Benami money and corruption. Many including Vinay Kulkarni and my son SS Mallikarjun became victims but MB Patil won elections by spending crores," Shivashankarappa had said at a Veerashaiva meet here on Saturday.

Responding to the remark, Patil, while addressing a press conference in Hubli on Sunday, had said Shivashankarappa was like a father figure to him "but the words used by him have exposed his character."

The state home minister also called Shivashankarappa the "most selfish politician, who is only concerned about his family and has not done anything for the society."

In the Karnataka Assembly Election 2018, Congress' MB Patil defeated BJP's Vijugouda Patil by a big margin from the Babaleshwar constituency.