Bengaluru: While the Congress is having to deal with the repercussions of the two videos showing former CM Siddaramaiah far from happy with the coalition government that were recently aired on television, it is now being claimed they were leaked without his knowledge by bureaucrats to create a diversion and avoid a transfer from plum postings. The first video, where Mr Siddaramaiah is seen talking of his opposition to Mr Kumaraswamy presenting a new budget, was reportedly recorded in the presence of legislators S T Somashekhar, Munirathna and Byrathi Basavaraju and a group of people, who had accompanied Kaginele Kanaka Peetha seer Swami Niranjanananda to meet the former CM.
One of those in the group reportedly asked questions and recorded the casual answers given by Mr Siddaramaiah until Mr Munirathna asked him to stop recording. When the same tape was aired on television channels, the legislators contacted Swami Niranjanananda, who, however, said he did not know the people, who had accompanied him into the room. According to him the group claimed to be his fans, and started speaking to the former CM. He denied any knowledge about a video recording. Going by sources close to CM Kumaraswamy, soon after the controversy over the videos erupted, Mr Basavaraju and Mr Munirathna met him to explain what had happened and urge him not to be upset.
But meanwhile, another video cropped up on TV channels showing Mr Siddaramaiah saying, “Let's see what happens after the budget is presented.” It is now claimed this video was recorded by a stringer of a TV channel with the help of a Congress worker during a meeting with Mr Siddaramaiah at the naturopathy clinic. The videos were later allegedly leaked by bureaucrats who enjoyed power during the Siddaramaiah government. When Mr Kumaraswamy began to transfer officials in key positions, it is claimed they decided to leak the videos to create a rift in the coalition and bring the administration to a standstill.
