Latest VCD shows Chennigappa admitting to taking bribe

The bribery episode involving Karnataka Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy has turned murkier with the release of yet another VCD showing Forest Minister C Chennigappa not only admitting to receiving Rs 35 million, but also accusing the Chief Minister of amassing billions of rupees and purchasing hundreds of acres of land.

The latest video tape, which had been delivered to television channels, shows an apparently drunk Chennigappa displaying his anger over receiving only Rs 35 million when more than a billion rupees had been pocketed by the Chief Minister, who had purchased about 750 acres of land.

The VCD, which runs for about four minutes, had captured Chennigappa cutting loose during an interaction with mine owners, who are not seen in the footage. The police constable-turned-Forest Minister turns belligerent during the course of his interaction. He is heard shouting that he has received only Rs 35 million. “Rs 100 crore (Rs one billion) for Kumaraswamy and only Rs 3.5 crore (Rs 35 million) for me”, he is heard as saying.

Next, Chennigappa launches a diatribe against the Chief Minister, using the choicest of expletives against his family members. Though the Forest Minister also makes references to the Chief Minister’s father and former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda, but the audio was not clear.

Soon after the VCD was released, it was brought to the Chief Minister’s office at Vidhana Soudha, where Kumaraswamy watched it in the company of Deputy Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa and Home Minister M P Prakash.

Meanwhile, pressure mounted on the JD (S)-BJP coalition in Karnataka to resign in the wake of “incriminating” revelations made in the latest VCD with the Congress party leading a delegation to Governor T N Chaturvedi yesterday.

Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) President M Mallikarjun Kharge, who held several rounds of talks with partymen at Kumarakrupa Guest House in Bangalore since the VCD was released, submitted a memorandum to the Governor on Friday.

But, Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy chose to play down the issue. “I have to better work to do than responding to this. I am sure even you have better work to do”, he told reporters, who sought his reaction.

Responding to a question, whether he would drop Chennigappa from the coalition Cabinet, Kumaraswamy stuck to his earlier stand that the Forest Minister would not be dropped.