Allegations will only help Yathindra grow as a leader: DK Shivakumar

Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India] : Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar, on Thursday, rejected the ‘cash for posting’ allegations of JD(S) and BJP against CM Siddaramaiah’s son Yathindra Siddaramaiah as baseless and an unnecessary controversy created by the opposition.

Reacting to the allegations made by the opposition, Shivakumar said, “JDS and BJP are targeting Yathindra with frivolous allegations as they are devoid of any real issues. By creating unnecessary controversies, they are only giving free publicity to help Yathindra grow as a leader,” Shivakumar said while speaking to reporters at the CM’s home office in Bengaluru earlier today.

Earlier, a viral video was posted by several opposition leaders claiming that Yathindra, a former MLA of Varuna, was involved in an alleged ‘cash for posting’ scam.

The alleged video shows Yathindra in a “public relations” meeting held in Keelanapura village of Mysore taluk. Yathindra is heard making a phone call saying “Appa tell me”.

“I watched the video in the morning. Yathindra has not taken the names of any officer or post or even made any remark that can be even remotely construed as a transfer scam.

What is wrong if he wants a few good officers transferred to his father’s constituency? It is natural for politicians to seek transfer of good officers to their constituencies,” added Shivakumar.

Responding to a query on the appropriateness of Yathindra seeking transfer in his father’s constituency, Shivakumar said, “Many times I am unable to spend enough time in my constituency and my brother attends to many requests of people. Many times, we delegate responsibilities to local leaders in the constituency as well. There is nothing wrong in it.”

Yathindra is also the Chairman of the Ashraya Committee and he was only trying to address the issues of the constituency in a Jana Samparka meeting. As the Chairman of the Ashraya Committee, he is well within his powers to address issues related to schools in the constituency, he added.

Responding to a query on corruption allegations in transfers, he said that transfer season was over long back and there are no transfers happening currently. These allegations are a clear sign of desperation.

On being asked if Congress is stooping too low to dub former CM HD Kumaraswamy as an ‘electricity thief’, Shivakumar said, “I have asked all my party workers not to comment on this issue. We did not say Kumarswamy has stolen power. He would have given the contract of illuminating his house to vendor and he would have done that.”

“If my car driver causes an accident, it is natural for people to say DK Shivakumar’s car was involved in an accident. Leaders sometimes have to face challenges due to issues created by others. Kumaraswamy has displayed magnanimity by admitting the mistake. Such things happen in politics,” he added.

The Congress had earlier alleged that HD Kumaraswamy had illegally connected the Diwali lights of his JP Nagar residence from an electric pole. The Congress had posted about this along with a video and photo.

In his defence, Kumaraswamy claimed that a private decorator was asked to decorate his house with electric lights for Diwali and they had connected it from a nearby pole and tested it. He was away from his residence when the incident took place, he said.

Responding to a question on whether a JDS MLA met him on Wednesday night, the Karnataka deputy CM said that no MLA has neither met him nor spoken to him.

“MLAs from all parties come to me for constituency works. But I have not spoken to any JDS MLA politically,” said Shivakumar.