HASSAN: JD (S) patriarch H D Deve Gowda on Saturday ridiculed the Congress government saying while in power it pruned the powers of Lokayukta and set up the Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) but now promised to bestow more power with the anti-corruption institution.
He told the media here the Congress government destroyed the institution of Lokayukta which was constituted by the late Chief Minister Mr Ramakrishna Hegde.
On the taped cell phone conversation in which Chief Minister Siddaramaiah directed Holenarsipura Congress nominee to defeat him and his son H D Revanna, Mr Deve Gowda remarked “What have we done to Mr Siddaramaiah? I met and consoled Mr Siddaramaiah after the death of his son Rakesh but he stooped to such levels. It reflects his caliber.”
Commenting on Mr Siddaramaiah’s decision to contest from two seats, he stated that perhaps he nursed doubts of his win in Chamundeshwari Assembly seat represented by the Chief Minister earlier and inputs from the state intelligence bureau.
To a query on Mr Siddaramaiah’s repeated charge that voting for JD (S) would amount to backing the BJP, Mr Gowda said: “It has been done in desperation” and added that both the Congress and BJP have released charge sheets against each other on alleged corruption in the state but they did do so against him or JD(S).
On Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s campaign, Mr Gowda said the leader’s image had taken a beating in recent months and that he was not as popular now when compared with the days before he ascended the top post in New Delhi.
