Dismissing BJP’s allegations that a “declared absconder” had given him an expensive wristwatch as one of the saffron party’s “hundred lies”, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said he had clarified that the Hublot watch had been gifted to him by an NRI friend.
The controversial wristwatch has already been handed over to Vidhana Soudha authorities for display among the gift items received by former Chief Ministers.
Speaking to reporters here on Monday, Mr. Siddaramaiah said his friend Dr. Girish Verma had submitted an affidavit to the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) that he had presented the watch to him. “He has already provided the bills from the shop in Dubai, where the watch was bought. What more evidence is required?”, the Chief Minister said.
Referring to the BJP’s charge that it was given to him by an industrialist, who has been declared an absconder, Mr. Siddaramaiah said he did not know the person the BJP was referring to.
After the controversy erupted more than two years ago, Mr. Siddaramaiah had handed over the watch to the then Assembly Speaker Kagodu Thimmappa with a request to make it a State asset.