Demand for a probe into the “Sweet Box Bribe” scam is getting louder with activists , journalists and opposition leaders in Bengaluru seeking clarity in the matter. Many senior journalists want the Karnataka Chief minister Office to come clean on the matter , as the matter has cast aspersions on several senior journalists. An activist group has also sought a probe in the matter involving Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai who was embroiled in a major controversy after allegations emerged that an official from the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) approached reporters and editors of news organisations with bribes , in guise of Diwali Gifts. The “Gifts” ranging from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 2.5 lakh were placed in the Deepavali hampers.

Several journalists in Bengaluru confirmed that hampers with cash were distributed, two confirmed that they had given it back to the CM’s office. Another journalist said they had not received the hamper themselves, but knew of others who had.

A senior journalist in a leading Bengaluru based daily newspaper said he immediately sent it back as soon as it came to hisnotice . The journalist told the media that the Deepavali sweet hamper had been left at the office with the guards last Saturday night. “I picked it up and when I opened it, I saw an envelope with cash in it. I did not count it, but I made sure the amount was returned,” the journalist said.

The journalist added that he sent a written letter to the CM expressing his serious dissatisfaction with this.
Another journalist with a leading publication went public that he was offered a similar sweet hamper and when he opened it he discovered there was Rs 1 lakh cash included in it. Journalists are asking the Chief Minister’s office to act against the officials who indulged in this.

The Bengaluru Press Club was agog with discussions amongst journalists on the money differed for chief reporters and editorial heads. While several journalists have come clean on the matter , there is still ambiguity on how many have not returned the “Diwali Gift” hampers. While it has been a tradition with the chief minister’s office to send Diwali sweets to some Editors and Bureau chiefs , but it is the first time that cash has been included in the hampers for a few journalists. “This amounts to Bribery, and is a dangerous trend of trying to buy over journalists” remarked a senior reporter with a print publication.

The Karnataka Chief Minister’s office has not yet sent out an official response to the charges leveled against the Media advisor Shankar Pagoji who was appointed recently .

The Congress on Saturday alleged that Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai tried to bribe journalists by sending Rs 1 lakh cash gifts to them on Diwali and demanded the registration of a graft case as well as his resignation.

The Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee demanded a judicial inquiry into what it called “Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) ‘sweet box bribe’ to journalists”.

According to sources in the CMO, Bommai has said he was unaware that “cash” was given to journalists.Addressing the media in New Delhi, senior Congress leader Randeep Surjewala said, “The Bommai government’s bribegate is now out in the open and this time the responsibility lies at the doorstep of the chief minister himself.” “This time, Mr Bommai has surreptitiously, overtly and in a conspiratorial fashion tried to bribe the entire journalistic fraternity by sending 1 lakh cash to every journalist in Karnataka. Hats off to our journalist friends who openly exposed the bribegate,” said Surjewala, who has been looking after the party’s affairs in the state.