Go give clarification, don't claim harassment: Vijayendra to DKS

Karnataka LoP BY Vijayendra hit back at Deputy CM DK Shivakumar's harassment claims regarding the National Herald case, urging him to cooperate. Shivakumar condemned the ED summons, calling it 'torture' and politically motivated.

Reacting to the notice issued to Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar by Delhi Police in the National Herald case, Karnataka Assembly Leader of Opposition BY Vijayendra said that the Deputy CM should go and give clarification to the investigation department instead of claiming it as harassment.

Speaking to reporters, BY Vijayendra said, "The entire country is aware of this national herald case. A public trust that has been misutilised by the Gandhi family. Taking away the property that was under the trust is an open-and-shut case, in my view. Corruption has taken place when money has been siphoned off and the trust funds invested in other properties. So everything is in the public domain."

"When the investigation is going on, it is the duty of DK Shivakumar, who has already received the notice, to cooperate with it. Rather than claiming harassment, he should go and give clarification to the investigation department," he further said.

Congress Defends Shivakumar

Kalyana Karnataka Region Development Board (KKRDB) Chairman and Congress MLA, Dr Ajay Singh, said, "We are not just fighting with the BJP. The Election Commission is also there. When DK Shivakumar and DK Suresh have said that they have submitted all the details, there is no need to call them again. What they are doing is wrong."

'ED is Torturing Us': DK Shivakumar

DK Shivakumar on Saturday condemned the summons issued by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) pertaining to his donations to National Herald and Young India.

Speaking to reporters at his Sadashivanagar residence, he said, "ED has issued summons for donating to National Herald and Young India. ED is torturing us. It is not correct, and I condemn it."

Replying to questions on ED summons, Shivakumar said, "We have been cooperating with the investigation from the beginning, and there is nothing to hide. I don't understand why ED has chargesheeted us. There was no need to register a police complaint in this case. We will fight this legally in the court of law."

The Deputy CM said that the Delhi police have instructed him and his brother, DK Suresh, to provide information by December 19. "ED has issued a summons to me and my brother, DK Suresh. We had replied to the summons some time back. It is shocking that they have issued the summons once again. The Delhi police have instructed us to provide information by December 19," he informed.

'Objective is to Torture Supporters of Gandhis'

Shivakumar said that the only objective was to "torture" supporters of Sonia and Rahul Gandhi. "We are paying our taxes, and we are free to give our money to anyone we want. They had even registered a PMLA case in order to torture us. What happened after that? The only objective seems to be to torture supporters of Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi and create confusion," he said.

'Donated When Organisations Were in Difficult Times'

The Deputy CM said that he donated money to the National Herald and Young India when both Congress organisations were in difficult times as a Congressman. "National Herald and Young India are the Congress party's organisations. We are Congressmen, and hence we had donated money from our Trusts when these organisations were in difficult times. Many other people also helped during that time," he explained.

"The notice was issued on Friday. My brother had donated some money when he was the MP. We will go through the notice and take necessary legal steps," he added. (ANI)

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Asianet Newsable English staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)