Gowda has a Reddy reply for bribe CD

Bangalore: Describing as a 'vicious' attempt to tarnish the image of his family and party, JD(S) supremo H D Devegowda on Thursday dismissed the bribery allegations leveled by suspended BJP leader Janardhan Reddy against his son and Karnataka Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy as 'baseless' and said legal action would be taken against Reddy.

"My family members, whose fair name and reputation Reddy has sought to tarnish, will take appropriate legal action, including a criminal defamation suit against him and others involved in it", Gowda said in a statement here.

"The so-called expose by Reddy is nothing but a vicious attempt to tarnish the image of my family and JDS. I dismiss all the baseless allegations with the contempt they deserve", he said in the statement, hours after Reddy released certain documents claiming to support his Rs 150-crore bribery charge.

Accusing the opposition Congress of being behind the allegations, Gowda said "it has undoubtedly been orchestrated by powerful lobbies whose overwhelming influence on the state machinery has been totally eliminated by the JD(S)-BJP coalition government".

"The people of Karnataka are well aware of this deep-rooted conspiracy by vested interests to destabilise the government and they will give a befitting reply to these forces at an appropriate time", Gowda added.

BJP red-faced

Continuing to distance itself from the Rs 150 crore bribery allegation levelled by its suspended legislator G Janardhana Reddy against Karnataka Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy, the BJP said its bond with the ruling JD (S) had further been strengthened.

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BJP State president D Sadananda Gouda described as 'shallow' the documentary evidences released by Reddy and said the suspicion over the stability of the JD(S)-BJP coalition government was cleared now.

He said the party had all along been maintaining that Mr Reddy had no evidence to substantiate his allegation and it was proved right today.

The disciplinary action initiated by the party against him on the issue has been justified, he added.

To a question, he denied Reddy had taken permission from him before releasing the evidences to the media.

Gouda also said he would submit a report to the party High Command on Reddy's conduct.

He had already submitted a report to the Party Central Parliamentry Committee seeking disciplinary action against party MP Basavaraj Patil Yatnal for extending support to Mr Reddy.

Senior BJP leaders and Ministers K S Eshwarappa, V S Acharya and B Nagaraja Shetty also urged the party top brass to initiate disciplinary action against Reddy for failing to prove his charge.

They said Reddy should be expelled for trying to confuse the party members and public by making ''false allegations.'' Mr Yatnal should also be suspended for supporting Mr Reddy, they added.

The Ministers alleged that unable to frame any charge against the JD (S)-BJP coalition government, the Congress leaders were trying to create confusion through Reddy and demanded an apology from them for ''deceiving the public.''