'CM should have handed over watch directly to chief secy'

The BJP on Wednesday said Chief Minister Siddaramaiah was playing to the gallery and misusing the floor of the Legislative Assembly by handing over his controversial Hublot wristwatch to Speaker Kagodu Thimmappa.

“The veracity of the watch is still under question. The Speaker has been unnecessarily dragged into the controversy by the chief minister. What if the investigations confirm that the watch is indeed a stolen article. The reputation of the entire House will be at stake,” leader of the Opposition in the Assembly, Jagadish Shettar, told reporters in Bengaluru.

Shettar questioned the need for the chief minister to hand over the watch to the Speaker in the House. The chief minister could have handed it over directly to the chief secretary, he said.

The watch has now become the property of the House as it has been handed over to the Speaker inside the Assembly hall, Shettar said.

Speaker’s take

Replying to queries from reporters, Kagodu said he had discharged his duty by handing over the watch to the chief secretary after it came into his possession.To a question that doubts had been expressed that the watch was a stolen article, Kagodu said, “It’s irrelevant.”

He said no documents were required to declare any article a government asset.Shettar said that declaring the watch a government asset, would not put an end to the controversy as the party would continue to demand an inquiry. Siddaramaiah should step down till the completion of the investigation, he added.

Both the Opposition BJP and the JD(S) have refused to buy Siddaramaiah’s contention that the watch was gifted to him by his Dubai-based friend Dr Girish Chandra Varma.

JD(S) leader H D Kumaraswamy said it was a matter of time before the truth behind the watch came out. “We will take the issue to its logical end,” he said.