Karnataka minister defends 'bribe' remark, cites word mix-up

Karnataka minister KM Shivalinge Gowda defended his 'give respectfully' remark, clarifying he meant showing gratitude, not giving bribes. He attributed the controversy to a word mix-up and denied encouraging corruption, accusing the opposition of malice.

Gowda Defends 'Respect' Remark

Karnataka minister KM Shivalinge Gowda has defended his recent remarks, saying that he "did not say to give a bribe" to officials and instead meant that people should show respect and express gratitude after the work was completed. Addressing the controversy over his statement, Gowda said there was no major mistake, and the issue arose due to a difference in the usage of words. "Nothing that big of a blunder has happened here. There was a slight difference in the usage of words, and we have corrected it. The meanings of 'give' and 'offer/submit' got mixed up. I said to say thanks; I did not say to give a bribe. I did not say that people should give money or a bribe," he told reporters here.

The Karnataka minister further said he meant that people should offer respect after their work was completed. "I said to give respect; I said to offer respect after the work is done. I did not say to offer money. May God do good to those who complained to the Governor," he added.

Responding to complaints filed against him, Gowda said people were free to approach the Governor or anyone else and questioned whether his statement violated any law or constitutional provision. "Let them complain to the Governor or to anyone. What is the law? Have I said something wrong? Have I said something unconstitutional? You tell me, why is there a situation where I should apologise? Why should I apologise?" he said.

'Have Not Instigated Corruption'

He denied encouraging corruption and reiterated that his remarks were about expressing gratitude. "I have not instigated corruption. I said to give respect after the work is done. If that is a wrong word, let's apologise. Don't you say thanks after the work is done? That is what I said," Gowda said.

The minister also said the issue could be used for political purposes and added that Chief Minister DK Shivakumar had not sought any clarification from him on the matter. "The Chief Minister has not given me any clarification. This will be trolled; it will be taken politically," he said.

Minister Alleges 'Maliciously Edited' Video

Earlier on September 21, Karnataka Minister K.M. Shivalinge Gowda said that his viral video clip over the "give respectfully" remark was "maliciously edited", alleging that the opposition was trying to defame the government by sharing a part of his statement out of context.

Clarifying his remarks, Gowda said he had told people not to pay bribes to officers and that his statement was about showing respect to officials who helped resolve their grievances. "It is saddening that the opposition is trying to defame our government by taking a small clip of what I said while listening to and resolving public grievances at the Praja Seva Andolana meeting held in Sakleshpur taluk on Saturday. Posting maliciously edited videos and trying to damage reputation is the mean trick of the BJP," he said.

The minister said he had intended to say "give respect to the officers who got the work done", but mistakenly used different words while speaking. "What I said was 'give respect to the officers who got the work done'. In the viral video, I had clearly said before those words, not to give bribe to officers for any reason. After that, instead of saying give respect to officers who got the work done, in the flow of speech I mistakenly said give it respectfully," Gowda said.

He alleged that the opposition used only a portion of his speech to create a wrong impression that he had asked people to offer bribes to officials.

BJP Hits Out at Congress Govt

BJP leader and Leader of Opposition in Karnataka Assembly R Ashoka had hit out at the Congress-led government over the state minister's remarks, saying "Congress Government's "Public Service Fee" – Honorable Bribe! The government of Chief Minister @DKShivakumar, which launched the Public Services Department to listen to people's grievances, is now shamelessly urging people directly to "give bribes." At the Public Services Movement meeting, Excise Minister Shivalingegowda declared, "It is your duty to give it respectfully to officials," thereby stating that taking bribes is the duty of the @INCKarnataka government."

His post on X added further, "Even during the tenure of the previous Excise Minister, crores of rupees in corruption were rampant in the Excise Department, and now the current minister is continuing the same." (ANI)

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