PMO forced I-T department to reopen Govindaraj diary case, says Digvijaya Singh

The Congress on Sunday dared the Centre to probe the ‘Govindaraj diary’ issue and accused the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) of pressuring the Income Tax (I-T) department to reopen a closed case pertaining to the diary.

“Why no action was taken for 11 months? Why did you (the Centre) remain quiet?...They (the BJP leaders) are in power and ED (Enforcement Directorate) and I-T department are under their control. Action can be taken if the charges are true,” AICC genertal secretary Digvijaya Singh told reporters here, on seeking his reaction to the Govindaraj diary in which details of some senior ministers from Karnataka having paid huge sums of money to the Congress high command are reportedly mentioned.

Seeks BJP response

Singh claimed that the diary is a fake one and was planted by the I-T authorities. The person who is accused of having maintained the diary (KPCC treasurer K Govindaraj) has denied that it belonged to him. If details mentioned in it (diary) are true, what is stopping the Centre from sending it to a forensic science laboratory and take up the investigation? (sic)” he asked.

He demanded that the state BJP president B S Yeddyurappa and Union Minister Ananth Kumar respond to the charges that the BJP MLC Lahar Singh paid huge sums of money to the party high command, including the then Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, in 2013.

Under illusion

“They (the BJP leaders) are under illusion if they think that the Congress can be cowed down by making such charges,” Singh added. Sources in the Congress said that Singh, while chairing the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) coordination committee meeting earlier in the day, said that he will convene a meeting of all ministers in Bengaluru during the coming budget session of the legislature to discuss preparations for the 2018 Assembly elections. Besides, the KPCC executive committee meeting will soon be held in Hubballi.

Siddaramaiah hurt by ‘migrant’ tag

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah is learnt to have expressed his dissatisfaction over a section of Congress leaders still treating him as an outsider. Speaking at the KPCC coordination committee meeting, he is learnt to have said that many in the party still treat him as a migrant though he has remained loyal to the party. Congress president Sonia Gandhi herself inducted him to the party in 2006. There is no need for anybody to doubt his loyalty to the party, Siddaramaiah, who turned emotional, stated.

He also took exception to some Congress leaders accusing him of giving priority to the people of his Kuruba community and repeatedly complaining against his government to the party high command. Senior leader C K Jaffer Sharief had recently termed the government ‘Kuruba government’ but had later apologised for his remark. Many members of the coordination committee, including B Janardhana Poojary, R V Deshpande, B K Hariprasad, M B Patil and Sharief, did not attend the meeting.

Leaders tell CM

Deny strongly the Govindaraj diary entries - Digvijaya Singh  
Appoint a new president to KPCC - K H Muniyappa
Waive farm loans keeping drought in view - G Parameshwara