Bengaluru: Dismissing allegations levelled by social activist S R Hiremath that he and members of his family had encroached upon over 200 acres near Bidadi, JD (S) patriarch H D Deve Gowda maintained on Tuesday these charges were probed by the Lokayukta twice earlier.
He told the media here the allegation first surfaced in a book published by the late BJP Member of Parliament, K Venkatagiri Gowda, titled “Gowda - King of Corruption.” When the book reached the hands of Prime Minister A B Vajpayee, he asked his party leaders to dump it in the dust bin. Similarly, the case was brought to the notice of the first Lokayukta, Justice A D Kaushal, also brother-in-law of external affairs minister Mrs Sushma Swaraj.
During the probe, Justice Kaushal sought property details of all children of Mr Gowda. “I have not destroyed any of those documents and they are still with me. All those who worked with me, including Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, Mr PGR Sindhia and others know about the issue. However, they will not speak in my defence. Somewhere, they may want this campaign to continue to tarnish the image of my family to continue,” he added.
Answering a question on possible moves of former revenue minister V Srinivas Prasad, Mr Gowda said Mr Prasad was a seasoned politician and therefore would be inappropriate to advise him.
“He was humiliated by his own friends, and so he quit the party. Now, they are attacking him and there is counter attack as well. A by-election is round the corner and it is up to Mr Prasad whether to contest or not. If he contests as an independent, the party will consider extending support to him,'' Mr Gowda added.
