Siddu son in a spot after viral video; JD(S), BJP allege ‘transfer business’

Maqsood Maniyar | NT

Bengaluru: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah's son Yathindra found himself on the receiving end of corruption allegations on Thursday after a video, in which he was reportedly seen issuing instructions on his phone, went viral on social media.

Janata Dal(S) state president HD Kumaraswamy alleged that the conversation was about the 'transfer business', referring to his old claim that money is changing hands to enable transfer of officials, adding that Siddaramaiah was directly involved since his son was speaking to him in the video.

Siddaramaiah, Deputy CM DK Shivakumar and their Cabinet colleagues rubbished the allegations, insisting that the phone call was about the development of four to five schools using Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) funds.

Yathindra, who is the Shelter Committee Chairman, can be heard in the now viral video saying: “Hello Appa (Father), Vivekananda! To where? No, I didn't approve of that. Give the phone to Mahadeva. I had only approved five.”

“Mahadeva, why are you going ahead with this? Who has approved it? Nothing of the sort. I have approved four to five. Go ahead with that only.”

Kumaraswamy claimed that Yathindra was speaking to R Mahadeva, a sub-registrar at Ganganagar in Bengaluru, who has been appointed as the CM's Officer on Special Duty.

Demanding a probe, he sought to know which list Yathindra was speaking about and who was Vivekananda in the conversation.

“Why did you call him (son Yathindra) and which list is that?” Kumaraswamy asked Siddaramaiah. “What is his (CM's) role? Is it his job to call his son and ask him what to do?” he asked.

Kumaraswamy also demanded that the list of schools, which the Deputy Director of Public Instructions (DDPI) has provided, be made public.

New BJP state president BY Vijayendra echoed the sentiments of his JD(S) ally. “People have been witnessing this daylight robbery, which the government has been indulging in since it came to power,'' he said.

Siddu hits back at Kumaraswamy

S iddaramaiah claimed that Kumaraswamy was projecting his own corruption onto Yathindra.

“Unfortunately, former chief minister HD Kumaraswamy, who was involved in rampant corruption during his tenure, thinks that everyone is like him. His pessimistic attitude does not allow him to think beyond corruption. His insecurity in politics often forces him to fabricate stories to paint a negative picture of his political opponents,” Siddaramaiah said.

“The same has happened with respect to the recent public phone conversation between me and my son about the development of schools in Varuna constituency,” he added.

The CM said that he would retire from politics if an instance is presented with proof that he had made money through transfers. Siddaramaiah also alleged that Kumaraswamy was still bitter about JD(S)' poor performance in the May Assembly polls.

Backing Yathindra, Shivakumar said: “JD(S) and BJP are targeting Yathindra with frivolous allegations as they don’t have any real issues to talk about. By creating unnecessary controversies, they are only giving free publicity to Yathindra, which will help him grow as a leader.”

Interestingly, JD(S) MLA from Holenarasipura and Kumaraswamy’s brother HD Revanna said that he didn’t find anything abnormal about the viral video, adding that it was normal for Yathindra to handle work in his father’s constituency (Varuna).