HD Kumaraswamy ups watch' on CM, says he has dug own grave

Kalaburagi: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah may be trying to bury the watch controversy, but JDS state president,  H D Kumaraswamy, is in no mood to let it lie.

Speaking to reporters here,  Mr Kumaraswamy warned that the “Socialist and Lohiaite” Chief Minister could  pay a heavy price for sporting the expensive wrist watch. Maintaining it was no trivial matter,  he said,   “there is a big mystery behind this watch worth over Rs 70 lakhs.”

 In his view the Chief Minister had dug his own grave by publicly admitting that the watch had been gifted to him by a friend. “Efforts are being made to trace that friend and find out why he gave it to him. I will soon come out with more details on the issue,” the JDS leader added ominously, indicating that he was preparing for a protracted battle on the issue.

He  also accused Mr Siddaramaiah of  neglecting developmental work in the state over  the past two and a half years that he had been in office. “Instead of focusing on development works, they are wasting time on trivial issues,” he charged, claiming that the state government owed around Rs 15,000 crores to contractors hired for work in the irrigation department in  2014-15.

 And although an action plan had been submitted to the government for  rural water supply schemes for 2015-16,  it had received no approval yet,  he deplored.