Former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda said on Monday, 19 August, that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah were not behind Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa's decision to order a CBI probe into the alleged phone-tapping scandal during the previous Congress-JD(S) government headed by his son H D Kumaraswamy.
The JD(S) patriarch said political parties and the government, instead of "mudslinging" at each other on such issues, should concentrate on addressing the needs of the people, especially at a time the state was facing a difficult situation due to floods, PTI reports said.
"The prime minister has got a lot of national issues, as does the home minister, like Kashmir, Article 370, 35A, PoK and other things. I will never come to any conclusion that the union government has given instructions, nothing doing," Gowda told reporters in Bengaluru, according to PTI.
On whether BJP was involved in political vendetta against his son by ordering a CBI probe, Gowda said: “these types of things, if you go on allowing (CBI to probe), where is the end?”
Pointing out that the issue came to light because of two officers, Gowda said one or two Congress leaders took that as an 'advantage' and suggested an impartial inquiry which has been taken as a plea by Yediyurappa, according to PTI.
BJP people here also started putting pressure on him.
"The point is I have never mixed matters. From day one I'm only talking about the concerns of the people," he said, as he pointed out that when Siddaramaiah and Yediyurappa were chief ministers in the past, they had stated several times that they would not refer cases to CBI.
Yediyurappa Orders CBI Probe Into Allegations
CM Yediyurappa on 18 August had said he will order a CBI probe into the allegations of phone tapping, citing demands by several Congress leaders.
“On the telephone tapping issue. Several leaders, including Congress Legislature Party leader Siddaramaiah, have said it should be probed and truth should come out, so I have decided to order a CBI probe. Tomorrow itself I will order the probe,”B S Yediyurappa, Chief Minister of Karnataka
He also said it was the expectation of the people of the state that a detailed inquiry should be made and the culprits punished.
Siddaramaiah Retaliates to BSY’s Decision
Former Chief Minister of Karnataka, Siddaramaiah retaliated to B S Yediyurappa’s decision to order a CBI inquiry into charges of phone tapping during the previous coalition government.
In a tweet, the senior Congress leader has asked the government to order an investigation into the alleged "Operation Lotus" that the JDS-Congress coalition claims pulled down its government.
In a tweet that was posted on 18 August, the Congress leader said he hoped that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) would not use the CBI to ‘unleash its venomous political vendetta’.
He also ordered an investigation into the alleged "Operation Lotus". "Operation Lotus" is a reference to BJP successfully engineering defection of opposition legislators to ensure stability of the Yediyurappa government in 2008.
Scandal Gaining Political Steam
Yediyurappa's announcement comes amid signs that the scandal is gaining political steam ever since disqualified JDS MLA A H Vishwanath, who served as the JDS state president and turned rebel later, last week dropped the political bomb, accusing the H D Kumaraswamy government of tapping phones and spying on more than 300 leaders, including him.
Congress leaders, including Siddaramaiah, M Mallikarjuna Kharge and home minister in the alliance government M B Patil, have sought a probe while another key party leader and former minister D K Shivakumar has rejected the snooping charges and appeared to side with Kumaraswamy.
According to reports, phones of those close to Siddaramaiah, who was the then coalition coordination committee chief, had come under the watch of the government.
Vishwanath had also claimed snooping would not have happened without the knowledge of the then Chief Minister as the intelligence wing was under his control.
Media is Targeting Me: Kumaraswamy
Several BJP leaders, including former chief minister Jagadish Shettar, have directly accused Kumaraswamy of being behind the episode to save his government which was then rocked by dissidence within.
The coalition government ultimately collapsed last month with the chief minister losing the trust vote in the assembly.
Kumaraswamy on his part has denied the allegations.
“There was no need for me to remain in and save the chair (of CM) by tapping phones. Allegations made against me by some people in this matter is far from truth,” he had tweeted.
“I am ready to face any investigation on telephone tapping issue. Media is targeting me in this issue.”HD Kumaraswamy, as quoted by ANI
The controversy surfaced as Bengaluru police commissioner Bhaskar Rao earlier this month ordered an inquiry into phone tapping incident against the backdrop of a recently leaked telephone conversation purportedly between him and someone in Delhi lobbying on his behalf with some politicians for the post he is occupying now.
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