Former chief minister and JD(S) state president H.D. Kumaraswamy is in no mood to retract his controversial comments on Mahatma Gandhi and corruption.
In fact, he went a step further on Wednesday saying that he stood by his comments and did not mind being described as a “villain” for speaking the truth.
“The issue has raked up a controversy, but I am not running away from it. I did it deliberately but it was not targeted at Gandhian Anna Hazare’s movement for the Jan Lokbal bill. My intention was to ensure that the movement went beyond just drafting a bill,’’ he told reporters here.
Clarifying the context in which he had referred to the Mahatma, Mr Kumaraswamy said that ‘if Gandhiji was active in politics today, he would have either become corrupt or would have quit politics altogether.’
“Even in those days, Gandhiji knew about corruption and refrained from entering active politics. Today, if someone tries to fight corruption, he would first be branded as corrupt. Politicians are not ready to accept the reality. I do not mind being branded as a villain, but I will continue to speak the truth,’’ he said.
“When I started exposing corruption in the government, similar allegations were made against me and my family members. I request the Lokayukta to conduct a probe into these charges. There may be a court stay on the cases filed against the chief minister and his family members but there are no such stays on complaints filed against me. I request the Lokayukta to take up the probe and place the facts before the people,’’ he said.
Stating that he wanted the movement started by Anna Hazare against corruption to deliver results, Mr Kumaraswamy said he personally supported the movement.
“I want all corruption cases against politicians, including those against me and my family to be probed. Besides, only politicians are accountable to the people, bureaucrats and the judiciary are not. We need to look into the issue,’’ he said.
Taking a dig at law minister Suresh Kumar, who had said that Mr Kumaraswamy was advocating corruption, the former CM wondered what Mr Suresh Kumar had done during the last three years as law minister to fight corruption. ``We have raised several corruption issues with the support of documents but has he acted on them? He was a party to all decisions taken by the Cabinet in the last three years. What is the BJP source of funding for the ongoing elections in five states? They are looting Karnataka and spending the money on elections in these states,’’ he alleged.
Reacting to a statement made by Opposition leader Siddaramaiah that he was not afraid of an investigation into his assets but Mr Kumaraswamy and Mr Yeddyurappa should be, the JD(S) state chief wondered why Mr Siddaramaiah was linking his name with Mr Yeddyurappa. “As an Opposition leader, Mr Siddaramaiah has not exposed a single scam involving the government. I am doing that work. If I was guilty of indulging in corruption, why would I have done this?’’ he asked.