Pejawar seer talks to CM and HDK over ''truth test''

Mangalore, Jun 24: Pejawar mutt pontiff Vishvesha Thirtha Swami on Thursday, Jun 23 urged Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa and opposition JDS leader H D Kumaraswamy to call off their June 22 ''I swear by truth'' programme planned at Dharmasthala.

"I advise both leaders to give up their plans of taking oath at Dharmasthala. If both swear by truth at the same time on the same issue, the chances of one lying will always be there", he told reporters here.

He said he was against making religious centres a forum for 'political manipulations.'
The action of both leaders in taking a pledge to justify their stands at a temple would set a bad precedent, he opined.

On June 16, Kumaraswamy, a former Chief Minister under whom Yeddyurappa was a deputy in the JDS-BJP coalition before it fell apart, alleged that Yeddyurappa had sought to buy his silence by offering inducements in terms of money and future coalition, among others.

Yeddyurappa then placed advertisements in leading dailies on June 18 challenging Kumaraswamy to come to the pilgrim town of Dharmasthala in Dakshina Kannada district, where both of them can meet and take an oath in front of Lord Manjunatha Swamy on June 27.

The Chief Minister's camp, led by Home and Transport Minister R Ashoka, fixed June 27 for the "truth test" and it was accepted on June 18 by Kumaraswamy, a Lok Sabha member who is also JDS state unit president.

The entire episode started unfolding on Jun 16 when Kumaraswamy, a former Chief Minister, alleged that Yeddyurappa had sought to buy his silence by offering inducements in terms of money and future coalition, among others.

Hitting back, Yeddyurappa placed newspaper advertisements last Saturday challenging Kumaraswamy to come to the famous pilgrim town of Dharmasthala in Dakshina Kannada district, where both of them can meet and take an oath in front of Lord Manjunatha Swami.

Kumaraswamy has accepted the challenge and said he would be in Dharmasthala to perform the oath before Lord Manjunatha.

PTI