Karnataka Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy today rejected allegations that a controversial tape supposedly containing a conversation between BJP leader BS Yeddyurappa and the son of a Janata Dal (Secular) legislator is fake. Mimicry is not easy to do, he commented.
The tape has a voice allegedly belonging to Mr Yeddyurappa telling Sharan - the son of JD(S) legislator Naganagouda - that they would be given a large sum of money for helping bring down the coalition government in Karnataka by crossing over to the BJP. The ruling party alleges that the conversation took place on February 7.
The BJP has rejected the charge; Mr Yeddyurappa has said the tape is fabricated and the voices doctored.
Mr Kumaraswamy brought up the matter to point at the "futility" of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's demonetisation exercise in 2016. "He said it was to wipe out black money, but then they offered Rs. 40-50 crore to each of our MLAs. Where does this money come from, and is it black or white? What was the point of demonetisation, then?" he asked.
The Chief Minister discarded the BJP's allegation that the clip is fake. "Mimicking is not an easy thing to do... anybody who hears the voices in the tape will understand who they belong to. I am open to whatever kind of inquiry they want into the tapes. They may ask their Prime Minister to initiate a probe, so the truth - whatever it may be - can finally come out," he said