BJP rakes up phone-tapping of Vokkaliga seer

The BJP on Friday raked up the alleged phone-tapping of seer Nirmalananda Swami in what was seen as an attempt to corner former chief minister H D Kumaraswamy, and also woo the Vokkaliga community.

While the CBI is probing the case of alleged snooping that Kumaraswamy is said to have sanctioned when he was in power, it is reported that the phones of Nirmalananda Swami of the Adichunchunagiri Mutt were also tapped.

Deputy Chief Minister C N Ashwath Narayan and Revenue Minister R Ashoka, the BJP’s Vokkaliga faces, led the attack on the issue. "For now, it has only appeared in media reports that the phones of the seer and his driver had been tapped. But it’s true. Very soon, it will be revealed how low the previous chief minister stooped. To treat the holy seer like a smuggler... it reeks of how their thought process worked,” Narayan said.

Ashoka went a step further and apologised to seer. Whoever did this must face punishment. The case has been given to the CBI so that the truth can come out. I apologise to all seers whose phones were tapped,” he said.