After army chief’s revelation that he was offered bribe to approve a deal, the JD(S) leader claimed that middlemen used to approach him regarding deals when his father, HD Deve Gowda, was the prime minister.
After army chief’s revelation that he was offered bribe to approve a deal, JD(S) leader HD Kumaraswamy claimed that middlemen used to approach him regarding deals when his father, HD Deve Gowda, was the prime minister.
Speaking in Bangalore on Thursday, Kumaraswamy began by alleging that the state government and Congress-led UPA government at the Centre were mired in a slew of scams. He expressed dismay at the Centre’s handling of General Singh’s letter to the prime minister. “Instead of taking action against middlemen, the government is trying to fix the General. This shows how strong middlemen are,” he said.
Replying to a question on the role of middlemen in purchase of weapons and equipment for defence forces, Kumaraswamy said middlemen were an inalienable part of defence procurements since the time when Jawaharlal Nehru was prime minister. Kumaraswamy went on to say: “When my father HD Deve Gowda was prime minister, these middlemen used to come to me to seek help for defence procurements.”
Within hours after Kumaraswamy’s statement, Gowda held an emergency press meet in Delhi. He said lobbyists or intermediaries never approached him regarding procurement of equipment for the defence forces when he was the prime minister.
“When nobody approached me, then why should I talk about middleman or straight man? (sic) I was never influenced by anybody,” said Gowda.
Further, he said Kumaraswamy never approached him with recommendations when he (Gowda) was prime minister. “I am making it clear that nobody, no MP or anyone else, approached me when I was PM,” added Gowda. Following Gowda’s statement, Kumaraswamy stated he had not informed his father about lobbyists who had approached him.
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