BJP MP Tejasvi Surya leaves poll event midway after victims of bank scam demand answers

BJP MP Tejasvi Surya on Sunday (April 14) left an election campaign event in Bengaluru’s Basavanagudi midway, after he was heckled and questioned by investors, who lost money in the multi-crore scam involving the Sri Guru Raghavendra Sahakara Bank.

Sources said the Bangalore South MP along with his uncle, BJP MLA LA Ravi Subramanya, had called a meeting with the investors. The latter during the meeting asked the BJP leaders about the delay in receiving the promised compensation from the government. Even though Tejasvi and Subramanya tried to pacify the investors, the latter were not satisfied with the replies.

Tejasvi seen arguing with investors in viral video

Videos of the incident, that have gone viral on social media, show the investors getting angry with the response of the BJP MP and chanting slogans such as “Down down Tejasvi Surya”, while accusing him of having “wronged” them and asking him to return their deposit.

The sudden commotion forced an angry Tejasvi to walk out of the meeting. While he was seen arguing with the investors while being escorted out of the venue by his security detail, it has been alleged that he pushed a woman who tried to stop him. MLA Subramany also allegedly tried pulling an investor by hand.

Congress takes ‘Exit Door’ swipe at Tejasvi

Sharing a video of the incident on social media, the Congress said “BJP’s Tejasvi Surya has once again escaped from the people through the Emergency Exit Door!”

This is a reference to an incident last year in which Tejasvi had accidently opened an emergency exit door in an IndiGo plane. An embarrassed BJP had later clarified that the MP had opened the door “by mistake” and apologised for the incident amid Opposition’s taunts.

“The Bangalore South MP spent 5 years eating dosa, playing football and having fun, people expressed outrage against the problem of victims who lost money in Guru Raghavendra Co-operative Bank @Tejasvi_Surya. Arrogance of Tejasvi Surya Patalam, who attacks and abuses voters during elections, has crossed the limit, time has come for voters to teach this ego a lesson. Candidates are facing backlash from the electorate @BJP4Karnataka everywhere, BJP is sure to blame for this public outcry,” the Karnataka Congress unit posted on its X handle.

About the scam

The bank management had allegedly swindled over ₹2,500 crore in a scam that came to light when the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) imposed withdrawal restrictions on the bank. The bank had over 45,000 depositors. Most of them received the ₹5 lakh insurance amount from the Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation. However, over 15,000 depositors with deposits over ₹6 lakhs have not been fully compensated so far.

The bank’s properties worth ₹159 crore have been attached by the Enforcement Directorate while the Karnataka government has ordered an investigation into the scam by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).