Gandhi would have turned corrupt in present day politics: Kumaraswamy

Kumaraswamy said,he was trying his best to curb “immoral” practise of corruption. He however admitted that he accepted donations from the people for the sake of his party.

Reflecting upon today’s political scenario in the country,Kumaraswamy said “if Mahatma Gandhi was alive today,he would have either fallen prey to corruption or would have shunned politics itself”.

He asked people of the state to follow Anna Hazare as a role model and come forward to lead a movement against corruption. “There is a dire need for person like Anna Hazare in Karnataka to fight against corruption”.

“Hats off to Anna Hazare who lead this movement and was successful in convincing the union government to constitute the Jan Lokpal bill draft committee”,Kumaraswamy said.

He expressed anguish that his efforts to bring “corrupt practises” of the B S Yeddyurappa-led BJP Government to the fore,had not yielded the expected results despite producing records to substantiate his allegations.

Kumarswamy claimed that JDS would emerge victorious in the bye-elections to the three assembly constituencies held on April 9 while BJP will be forced to eat humble pie.

He rubbished the claims made by Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa that the state would collect more revenue this year as “nothing but humbug”.

Kumaraswamy said he would place before the public the real economic position of the state tomorrow and charged Yeddyurappa with “misguiding the public about the actual financial status of the state”.

Kumaraswamy criticised for his remarks

Kumaraswamy’s remarks drew sharp reaction from leaders including Gandhian Anna Hazare,who wondered how the country could eliminate corruption if leaders talk like this.

“If our leaders are talking like this,how are you going to root out corruption,” 73-year-old Hazare,who successfully led the agitation on the Lokpal Bill issue,said.

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee described as “meaningless utterances” the comments by the JD-S leader.

“No,I will not comment. It is a meaningless utterance and I will not give (my) reaction to it,” Mukherjee said in Kolkata.

Taking a dig at Kumaraswamy,senior BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad asked “what else can you except from Mr Kumaraswamy? Nothing better.”

He said the whole movement against corruption in the country arose because of the “patent disgust” which the people were suffering because of the spate of scams like 2G to Commonwealth Games to Adarsh Housing Society.

“Those who are in politics and those who do people-oriented politics need to understand and take corrective measures but the entire politics of Mr Kumaraswamy survives on corruption,that is the problem,” Prasad said.

However,Kumaraswamy said that he has been misquoted.

Clarifying that no politician can survive by his or her money in view of the cost of the day to day political activities,he said “I have not told even if Mahatma Gandhiji if he was alive at this moment and if he was in politics even he would have corrupt. That is not the word I said.”

“In this situation I think he (Mahatma Gandhi) would have ran away from politics. That is the word I used. Because at the present juncture,the way in which politics is going on,the way expenditure is going on for a politician,” he said.