Yeddyurappa's son dismisses opposition charges

"It (the accusation) is baseless and levelled to cover up their misdeeds," Raghavendra, a Bharatiya Janata Party MP from Karnataka, told IANS. He was reacting to a claim of former Karnataka chief minister and JD-S Lok Sabha member H.D. Kumaraswamy earlier Friday in New Delhi that Yeddyurappa's sons were running the trust to make money.

"There is no misuse of any office by us (himself and his brother B.Y. Vijayendra) to get donations to the trust which was established in 1996 to run an educational institution in Shimoga (his constituency). Donations to it are exempt from income tax," Raghavendra said.

He said "everybody knows what Kumaraswamy and his father (former prime minister and JD-S president H.D. Deve Gowda) have done when they were in power". "They have no ethics and make false allegations against others to cover up their own misdeeds," Raghavendra charged.

Kumaraswamy had claimed "Yeddyurappa's family made illegal gains of over Rs.27 crore through donations to the trust run by his sons". He released 'documents' to support his claim. The 'documents' were also circulated to the media in Bangalore by the party.

Kumaraswamy said donations were made to the trust in the last two years "in return for favours" by Yeddyurappa's sons. He alleged that these "donations were collected by Yeddyurappa's sons by favouring a realty firm and a steel manufacturing company".

Kumaraswamy said Yeddyurappa and his sons had ensured no action was taken against the real estate developer "though he had encroached tanks (water bodies)" in Bangalore.

The JD-S leader's new charge against Yeddyurappa came after a gap of several weeks. The JD-S had taken the lead in releasing documents in October-November last year, alleging Yeddyurappa favoured his kin with prime land in and around Bangalore and indulging in large-scale denotification of government land to favour people who invested money in his sons' business ventures.

A Bangalore court is hearing five complaints of corruption and illegal land dealings against Yeddyurappa, his sons and other relatives. The complaints were filed by two advocates in January after Governor H.R. Bhardwaj granted sanction to prosecute Yedddyurappa over the charges.

The court is yet to decide whether to take cognizance of the complaints.