Bribery charge against CM a ploy to weaken JD(S): Devegowda

Bangalore, July 25 (UNI) Former Prime Minister and JD (S) President H D Deve gowda today described the Rs 150 crore bribery charge against his son and Karnataka Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy by a BJP legislator as a ploy to weaken his party and accused some BJP leaders of collaborating with the Congress to enable it to fish in troubled waters.

In a belated response to the bribery allegation that threatened to destablise the over five-month-old JD (S)-BJP coalition government, Mr Devegowda, in a four-page release faxed from New Delhi, said though the bribery charges were directed towards the coalition government, it was actually a design by various political parties to weaken the JD(S).

He said some people were trying to get ''ugly happiness'' by accusing Mr Kumaraswamy of taking bribe.

Mr Gowda said both the Congress and the BJP should understand that JD(S) was the ''inevitable alternative'' in the state. It had fought the elections based on the principle of keeping equidistance from both the Congress and the BJP.

He said the bribery 'episode,' which had come out in the open now was not new and had a three-year-old history behind it.

Several people, including politicians, had been involved in a bitter struggle over the years to own the 'illicit wealth' from illegal mining. ''The Congress is now trying to fish in troubled waters with the help of some BJP members,'' he added.

MORE UNI RS VK-RG RL VC1936