Cash for seat row, Home Ministry seeks report from Karnataka

The Union Home Ministry has sought a report from the Karnataka Government on the cash-for-MLC seat audio CD controversy involving JDS leader H D Kumaraswamy, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said today.

The report would be submitted today or tomorrow, he told reporters here when asked about reports that the Union Home Ministry had asked the state to provide full details on the issue and the action taken.

Kumaraswamy is at the vortex of a controversy after the release of the CD about him purportedly telling the supporters of MLC seat aspirant Vijugowda Patil, a JDS leader from Bijapur District, about the demand for money from his party MLAs. In the CD, Kumaraswamy was heard purportedly saying, "40 people (JDS MLAs) are asking for 40 crore... This is my fate."

Unperturbed by the controversy, Kumaraswamy, a former Chief Minister, has defended himself, saying it had been blown out of proportion as if he had "committed a sin".

The issue has snowballed into a major controversy with prominent figures rapping Kumaraswamy and JDS for an attempt to commit electoral malpractice.

Former Karnataka Lokayukta Santosh Hegde has flayed political parties for not raising the issue in the Assembly "for the fear of more exposures coming to light."
BJP and the Congress have also slammed the JDS leader.