Cobrapost, an investigative portal, recently did a sting operation on as many as 36 Bollywood film celebs. Named Operation Karaoke, its aim was to "expose" the celebs as money-minded entities who charge enormous amounts to make political tweets and Facebook posts favouring BJP (mostly this party), Congress, or AAP. The Cobrapost's undercover reporters approached them as PR agents. They offered the celebs anywhere between Rs 50,000 to Rs 20 lakhs per social media post, depending on their popularity and reach.

Sunny Leone is one of the celebs Cobrapost successfully "stung". Sonu Sood is said to have allegedly demanded Rs 20 Cr for an 8-month contract. Evelyn Sharma, who is doing 'Saaho', is also seen demanding amount on camera.

Playback singers Kailash Kher and Baba Sehgal, who have rendered popular Telugu songs, were also "exposed". 'Vinaya Vidheya Rama' villain Vivek Oberoi, 'Badri' actress Ameesha Patel, Mahima Chaudhry and others were also "caught".

Vidya Balan was approached but she refused to be part of the game. She is one of the four celebs who has steered clear of the controversy.

A few of the celebs have said that the Cobrapost's sting operation is aimed to sabotage the 2019 polls. Sonu Sood claimed that the video was selectively tampered by the portal.