Dubai doctor says he forced Siddaramaiah to take Rs 14 lakh watch as gift

The Rs 14 lakh watch that Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah was spotted wearing has created a huge controversy. Now, a Dubai-based doctor friend of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has defended him. According to a report in The New Indian Express, Dr Girishchandra Varma gifted the Karnataka CM the luxurious Hublot.

Speaking to the daily, Dr Varma said that he and Siddaramaiah were friends for more than 30 years now and that all this controversy was uncalled for. He added that he was the one who forced the CM to take the watch as a gift. 

Dr Varma, 55, is a cardiac surgeon who is based in Dubai. When he was asked about the price of the watch, he stated that he had bought the pre-owned watch in a Dubai market for 75,000 dirhams (about Rs 14 lakh). But the opposition parties have slammed Siddaramaiah and claimed that the watch cost Rs 70 lakh.

The doctor told the daily that he had a collection of watches and does not remember exactly what model Hublot that he had presented the CM. He added that he does not own "a single room or an inch of land or any business interest in Karnataka". He told the daily that he gave the watch only because of the friendship they shared. He gave to him in July 2015.

Varma is from Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala,and has been living in Dubai for the past 10 years. He studied in Karnataka and thus speaks a bit of Kannada. He now works with NMC Hospital. 

He also said that he visits the CM and other old friends whenever he comes to Bengaluru. Reportedly, he first met Siddaramaiahin 1983 through a common friend. 

He was quoted as saying that he was sad and upset that the watch had been made into such a big issue in Karnataka and so much time was being wasted. "Siddaramaiah is a very nice and simple person. He is not the kind who accepts gifts from people. He refused to accept the watch from me, but I forced him to take it saying his friend Varma has made it big in life now,” he told the daily.