Shivakumar has been asked to provide all documents in his defence regarding the case…reports Asian Lite News
Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister and state Congress President, D.K. Shivakumar, has been served a notice by the State Lokayukta on Wednesday in connection with the disproportionate assets (DA) case, sources confirmed.
Shivakumar has been asked to provide all documents in his defence regarding the case.
The development is seen as a setback for Shivakumar, who is busy with strategising and executing election campaigns for the Congress.
Shivakumar is also at the forefront of election campaigns with Chief Minister Siddaramaiah.
In a controversial move, the Congress government had withdrawn the permission given to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to probe the matter.
The case was handed over to the CBI by the then BJP government headed by former Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa.
The case was then handed over to the Lokayukta by the Congress government on November 23, 2023.
The CBI had questioned the Karnataka government’s decision in the court, claiming that it is in the last phase of filing the charge sheet against Shivakumar.
The Supreme Court had recently quashed the case probed by the Enforcement Directorate against Shivakumar.
Shivakumar had recently claimed that even after the DA case was quashed and permission withdrawn for the CBI probe, the central probe agencies still served notices to him, his family and business partners and accused that they were harassed.
The CBI had alleged that the assets of Shivakumar’s family, which was amounting to Rs 33 crore in 2013 had increased to Rs 166.79 crore by 2018.
The preliminary probe proved the increase of 44.93 per cent additional property disproportionate to the sources of income, sources said.
Shivakumar ridicules Kumaraswamy
Shivakumar ridiculed JD (S) leader HD Kumaraswamy’s style of politics on Wednesday, stating that his only job was to criticise.
“Tell me what Kumaraswamy has not criticised. His job is to criticise. He is criticising the Congress manifesto now. He criticised Mekedatu in the past and now he is saying he will implement it. He criticised the BJP for bringing his government down and now he has joined hands with them. He doesn’t respect his own words and I don’t bother much about his words,” Shivakumar told reporters at his Sadashivanagar residence.
“Kumaraswamy hasn’t even spared the Vokkaliga Mutt. He has created an alternative Vokkaliga Mutt. We all know what Kumaraswamy said about Yediyurappa and what Yediyurappa said about Kumaraswamy. We also know what Devegowda said about Yediyurappa. Yogeshwar, Ashok and Ashwathnarayan brought down the Kumaraswamy government, but now he has joined hands with the same people. Now, he is accusing the manifesto of the party, which made him the Chief Minister,” he added.
When asked about how Vokkaliga votes are getting divided, Kumaraswamy said, “Vokkaligas and Vokkaliga swamijis won’t advocate a political party just because they visit them. They are wise and they won’t interfere in politics. The swamijis are aware of the fact that JDS leaders divided the Vokkaliga mutts. Swamijis could have questioned the BJP leaders for bringing down a Vokkaliga chief minister but they did not. Now the JDS leaders are taking to Swamijis the same leaders who brought down a Vokkaliga chief minister.”
He further said, “The Congress party has given tickets to eight Vokkaligas. I am the KPCC President and the DCM. Vokkaligas are smart people and they are watching everything. Kumaraswamy is saying he joined hands with the BJP because of the Congress but he doesn’t realise that he has sold himself by this alliance. What is worse is that Devegowda had to field his own son-in-law on a BJP ticket. Now, they are embracing the same people who brought him down.”
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