Bengaluru, 8 Jan

A political storm erupted after a reports claimed that the Karnataka government gave the most number of advertisements to the Congress-owned National Herald, despite it having a relatively small footprint in Karnataka.

According to government reports accessed by several media outlets, the State government reportedly spent spent around Rs 1.9 crore on advertisements in the National Herald, while in 2024-25, this amount was Rs 99 lakh.

Notably, in 2024-25, the Congress government in Karnataka spent a total of Rs 1.42 crore on advertisements in national newspapers, of which about 69 per cent went to the National Herald. Salar could not independently verify the numbers.

The BJP launched scathing attacks on the government.

Union Minister Pralhad Joshi said that: "The so-called owner of this newspaper, Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, are out on bail in connection with this scam (National Herald disproportionate assets case).”

He claimed that the State government was bribing people on bail.

Leader of Opposition in the Assembly R Ashoka said on X that: “While farmers wait for dues, youth struggle for jobs and basic infrastructure cries for funds, Congress is busy converting Karnataka into an ATM to fund its political network.”

BJP State President BY Vijayendra said it was “back door funding”, claiming that the Congress was illegally channelling money.

However, Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar defended the funding, saying it was natural and “there is nothing wrong with it”.

“Any government can give advertisements to any media outlet it feels is doing its work,”he told press. “We have seen many other states giving ads to Kannada newspapers. What are they doing? Can we question that?”

The ED had accused Sonia and Rahul, among others and the private company Young Indian, of conspiracy and money laundering in the National Herald Case.