Her finesse with gadgetry came in handy

K P Bharati Devi, Srinivas’s wife, singlehandedly audio and video recorded Gowda’s conservation using hidden cameras, as shown in a CD released by JD(S) State President H D Kumaraswamy on Thursday.

Contents of the CD nick-named “MLA Sting” created a stir in the State politics, besides causing severe embarrassment to the ruling BJP, which has been charged of poaching MLAs of the opposition parties in an effort to stabilise its government.

The CD shows Gowda allegedly offering Rs 15 crore to Srinivas for resigning from his post on behalf of Chakravarthy Samrat ( R Ashoka).

Bharati Devi, who is a homemaker and pursuing masters degree in English, gave her husband the idea of exposing Gowda in particular and the BJP in general by recording the ‘offer’. Srinivas agreed after consulting his party leaders.

“I first recorded my husbands’ telephonic conversation with Gowda. Gowda said he would come down to our residence within few minutes to settle the deal. I immediately decided to receive Gowda in the office room. I fixed four handycams at strategic locations. I also fixed a pen camera in my husband’s shirt pocket. All lights in the houses were turned off to ensure that none of the cameras was visible,” she said.

“But two of the four handycams had some technical snag. I could not make it out as the time available was very short. Besides, my husband forgot to press the recording button of the pen camera in his pocket. Audio recording of the conversation with Ashoka is not clear in the CD because the camera fixed right behind my husband failed to work.

Fortunately, the camera in front of Gowda had worked well,” Bharati said. “Everything was working out well, and we were about to shoot the money part also. But the supporters goofed up by stopping Gowda’s four-wheeler under the impression that it had money. Gowda became suspicious and did not return with the money,” she said.

On the BJP calling the CD a fake and Gowda refusing to have made the offer, she said the BJP leaders are known for their lies. Even a common man will be able to identify Gowda’s voice in the CD. People of the State now know the reality, she added.