Belur Gopalakrishna, former MLA, recently alleged that Hartal Halappa, Sagar BJP MLA, accepted bribes from people indulging in sand mining. The former MLA said he was ready to make the allegation before the presiding deity of Dharmasthala, Manjunatha Swamy, and wanted to know if Mr. Halappa was prepared to deny them before the deity. Mr. Halappa has accepted the challenge and announced that he would visit Dharmasthala to state that neither he nor any member of his family ever took money from miners.
He has fixed February 14 as the day of the “truth test”. He has, however, challenged Mr. Gopalakrishna to be present in Dharmasthala on the day and prove his allegation by bringing people who gave him money. The people of Shivamogga are curious how this drama will unfold. Challenging each other to “truth tests” in front of the Dharmasthala deity has been quite a habit with politicians in Karnataka. One of the more famous episodes was when former Chief Ministers B.S. Yediyurappa and H.D. Kumaraswamy, back in 2011, dared each other to a “truth test” over a corruption allegation. However, the test eventually never happened.
