Kumaraswamy completes six months in office, but charges continue to mount

Proving skeptics wrong about its longevity, the JD (S)-BJP coalition Government led by Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy completed six months in office on Thursday.

But, charges of corruption against the Chief Minister’s family continued to pour in, much to the chagrin of the coalition partners.

As if the Rs 1.5 billion pay off charge against the Chief Minister and the purchase of an IT park worth Rs 850 million by his family members were not enough, the founder of a financial company, which duped thousands of investors of their money, has confessed to paying former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda and senior BJP leader Ananthakumar Rs 100,000 and Rs 500,000 respectively from his ill-gotten wealth.

The founder of Vini Vinc Finances Srinivas Shastry, who has been arrested for a series of economic offences, has revealed during a narco-analysis test that he had paid Rs 100,000 to Gowda towards election fund and Rs 500,000 to Ananthkumar towards Brahmana Sabha.

The opposition Congress, which has launched an offensive against the coalition Government, is now using Shastry’s confession as a stick to beat the JD (S) and BJP with.

“The JD (S) and BJP leaders have accepted money from a fraudster, who has duped innocent people to the tune of Rs 30 billion”, Congress leader and former Minister H Vishwanath told reporters.

But, Deputy Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa has defended the acceptance of money from Shastry. “It is common for political parties to raise funds from organizations and individuals. It is also necessary”, he said.

The Congress party mounted pressure on the JD (S)-BJP Government to quit office in the wake of the fresh allegations. "With a baggage of corruption allegations, the coalition Government has no moral right to remain in office", Vishwanath told a press conference yesterday.