JOIN US Janata Dal (Secular) supremo H D Deve Gowda on Saturday said that the Congress government in the State was welcome to order a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into the lands owned by him and his son H D Kumaraswamy.
A day after Congress MLC Ugrappa took a dig at the Gowda family, asking them to voluntarily come forward and offer to face an inquiry before the CBI, Gowda shot back at him, saying that the Congress legislator’s own government was in power and that it was free to order an inquiry.
Ugrappa had on Friday alleged that Kumaraswamy had encroached upon 57 acres of farmland near Bidadi, where he possessed around 200 acres of land.
He had also said that the JD(S) leader had destroyed all documents pertaining to it.
On Saturday, a sarcastic Gowda said that he had already furnished documents pertaining to the properties owned by him, his children and grandchildren, before the Lokayukta.
“Former chief minister Ramakrishna Hedge had ordered an inquiry into the wealth owned by me, but it yielded nothing. Puttaswamy Gowda (the late Congress leader) brought out a book, terming me the ‘king of corruption’, but then, too, nothing came out of it. Now, Ugrappa is levelling the same charges. I will be glad if they order a CBI probe at the earliest... I am ageing.”
Tea with Modi
Gowda said that when he meets Prime Minister Narendra Modi on June 3 or 4 for tea, he would not volunteer any suggestions.
“I will only give my opinion if he asks for it,” he said. When asked if he would discuss the illegal lottery racket issue with Modi, Gowda said he now saw no point in it, as the matter was being probed by the CBI.