Modi, Shah not behind BSY ordering CBI probe into telephone tap scandal: Deve Gowda
Bengaluru, Aug 19: Former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda said on Monday 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.
"The Prime Minister has got a lot of national issues, also Home Minister like- Kashmir, Article 370, 35(a), PoK and other things. I will never come to any conclusion that the union government has given instructions, nothing doing," Gowda told reporters here.
Yediyurappa on Sunday had announced a CBI probe into the scandal after his return from Delhi late on the previous day.
"We are in difficult times. It may take time for the central government to give money for relief. Our focus should be on that, people are suffering...rather than that,this (phone tapping) is being projected in a big way as though it has happened for the first time in Karnataka," he said as he hit out at sections of the electronic media.
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?".
"...Siddaramaiah (CLP leader) has said refer taking of MLAs to Bombay and Operation Lotus to CBI, another leader has said why not all (similar things that have happened during the tenure of various CMs in the past). Someone spoke about Yediyurappa's sting operation audio case (where he is reportedly heard luring a JDS MLA's son)...should all these things be referred (to CBI)? Where is the end for these things?" he asked.
"Operation Lotus" is a reference to BJP successfully engineering defection of opposition legislators to ensure stability of the Yediyurappa government in 2008.
As the phone tapping scandal came to light, Congress leaders, including Siddaramaiah, M Mallikarjuna Kharge and home minister in the alliance government M B Patil had sought a probe, while another key party leader and former minister D K Shivakumar rejected the snooping charges and appeared to side with Kumaraswamy.
According to reports, phones of several political leaders, officials, journalists and also those close to Siddaramaiah, who was then the coalition coordination committee chief, too had come under watch.
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 Kumaraswamy losing the trust vote in the assembly.
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.
Also BJP people here 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.
The snooping controversy surfaced as Bengaluru police commissioner Bhaskar Rao earlier this month ordered an inquiry into the 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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'Warm and engaging atmosphere reigned', Shashi Tharoor on Putin banquet
New Delhi (PTI): Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor, who on Friday attended a banquet for Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Rashtrapati Bhawan, on Saturday described the atmosphere there as "warm" and "engaging", and said he enjoyed his conversations with many of the attendees.
Tharoo’s remarks came a day after President Droupadi Murmu hosted a banquet for the visiting Russian president at the Rashtrapati Bhavan here.
“Attended the @rashtrapatibhvn banquet for President Putin last night. A warm and engaging atmosphere reigned. Enjoyed my conversations with many of the attendees, especially my dining companions from the Russian delegation!" Tharoor said in a social media post.
Murmu, while welcoming President Putin and his delegation at the banquet, had said that his visit marked an important milestone -- the 25th anniversary of the India-Russia strategic partnership, which was established in October 2000 during his first visit to the country as president.
Murmu also appreciated Putin's support and personal commitment to the India-Russia special and privileged strategic partnership.
The Congress on Friday said that the leaders of the opposition, Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi, were not invited to the banquet, and took a swipe at Tharoor for accepting the invite.
The party’s media and publicity department head, Pawan Khera, accused the government of breaking protocols daily and not believing in democratic principles.
“There is no invite to both the LoPs, Mr (Mallikarjun) Kharge and Mr (Rahul) Gandhi. This comes as a surprise, but I don't think we should be surprised. This government is known to be breaching all protocols. What else to say, ask the government,” Khera said on Friday.
Asked about Tharoor accepting the invite for the banquet, Khera said, "Ask Mr Tharoor. All of us who are in the party, if our leaders don't get invited and we get invited, we need to question our own conscience and listen to our conscience. Politics has been played in inviting or not inviting people, which in itself is questionable, and those who accept such an invite are also questionable."
“We would have listened to our voice of conscience,” he added.
Earlier, Tharoor had said that there was a time when the chairman of the external affairs committee was routinely invited, but that practice seems to have stopped some years ago.
On Thursday, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi alleged that the government tells visiting foreign dignitaries not to meet the leader of opposition due to its "insecurity".
His remarks came hours ahead of Putin's two-day visit to India.
