Janata Dal (Secular) leader and Union Minister for Heavy Industries and Steel H.D. Kumaraswamy has accused the Congress of being “mired in corruption” and downplaying the “scam” in the distribution of sites by the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA).
He was speaking at the joint convention of the BJP and JD(S) held here on Saturday to mark the culmination of the padayatra by the allies held to highlight the alleged corruption of the Siddaramaiah-led government and to seek the resignation of the Chief Minister.
Personal attacks continue
Mr. Kumaraswamy, who had come under attack by Deputy Chief Minister and KPCC president D.K. Shivakumar at the same venue on Friday, in what was a continuation of the slugfest underlining their mutual acrimony, dedicated a good portion of his speech to hit back, peppered with several personal swipes.
Referring to Mr. Shivakumar’s remarks that the Congress won 136 seats under him whereas the JD(S) could manage only 19 seats, Mr. Kumaraswamy said, ‘’But Mr. Shivakumar should speak on what happened in the Lok Sabha elections where the Congress won only nine seats and the NDA won 19.”
‘Already converted’
Referring to the MUDA issue, Mr. Kumarswamy questioned the defence of Mr. Siddaramaiah that his brother-in-law had purchased the land and gifted it to his wife. ‘’The said land had already been converted as plots and sold by MUDA and one wonders how it could be purchased by anyone. Mr. Siddaramaiah may not have affixed his signature, but every transaction has taken place under his nose and in his favour,” remarked Mr. Kumaraswamy.
‘’Congress leaders have attacked the Deve Gowda family and challenged me from this stage. I have accepted the challenge and will expose them,” said Mr. Kumaraswamy waving a set of booklets and papers which, he claimed, pertained to the documents related to Arkavathy Layout denotification scam.
He accused Mr. Siddaramaiah and Mr. Shivakumar of perusing politics of vendetta and alleged that a senior leader like B.S. Yediyurappa had been “framed in a false case” under the POCSO Act in a bid to finish him politically.
Mr. Kumaraswamy also referred to the allegations levelled by Mr. Shivakumar that there were 50 denotification cases pending against him and said similar allegations were made against the combined Opposition by Mr. Siddaramaiah and the Congress in the run-up to the Assembly elections in 2023. ‘’But after being in power for more than 15 months they have been unable to produce any shred of evidence,” Mr. Kumaraswamy added.
‘Cannot take it any more’
Responding in Bengaluru to the attacks on him, Mr. Shivakumar said he could not be intimidated. “I have put up with Mr. Kumaraswamy’s criticisms and threats for the last two to three years. But he is desperate after his son’s loss in the elections... I showed restraint as I had worked with him when he was the Chief Minister in the coalition government, but I can’t take this anymore,” he said, urging Mr. Kumaraswamy to release any documents that he might have.
