BJP too paid central leaders: Kumaraswamy

 JD(S) State President H D Kumaraswamy on Friday sought the resignation of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah over the diary controversy and said the BJP too is equally corrupt.

Speaking to reporters in Bengaluru, Kumaraswamy said the diary purportedly providing details of payoffs by state Congress members to their national leaders had exposed the party’s hand in “looting” the state. “But the BJP is no angel. The Congress and the BJP are partners in crime in looting the state to fill the coffers of their respective national leaders. Karnataka has become a green pasture for them,” Kumaraswamy said.

The JD(S) leader wondered who had leaked the contents of the diary, reportedly belonging to Congress MLC K Govindaraju and seized by I-T sleuths during a raid last year. “It is obvious that the BJP, which is in power at the Centre misused its office, flouted laws to leak the contents, ” he said answering his own query.

Kumaraswamy said he had documentary evidence that BJP state leaders too had provided payoffs to the party central leaders. “I can reveal the details if the BJP gives an assurance that action will be initiated,” he said.

Kumaraswamy said he will retire from politics if it proved that he had sought bribe from officials or contractors during his 20-month tenure as chief minister of the state.