I have got a clean chit in land case: Ashok 

Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Assembly R. Ashok, against whom four Ministers led by Home Minister G. Parameshwara, held a press conference recently to make allegations of land grab, hit back at the Congress accusing them of dragging him into a case in which he had already got a clean chit.

The Ministers had said that Mr. Ashok had returned 32 guntas of land, acquired by Bangalore Development Authority (BDA), that he had purchased in 2011 to evade an inquiry against him. The Ministers pointed out that given he had himself returned the land that had led to a case against him, it was hypocritical of him to term the return of 14 sites by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s wife as “acceptance of guilt”.

Mr. Ashok claimed that while he returned the land before the court order, Mr. Siddaramaiah did so after FIRs were filed against him. “The then Governor H.R. Bharadwaj did not order an inquiry against me in the case. The High Court also said an inquiry was not necessary,” he said.

Responding to the letter by Mr. Siddaramaiah’s wife Ms. Parvathi in which she appealed not to drag the families of politicians into controversies, Mr. Ashok said he concurred with her and said he desisted from making personal attacks and had never attacked her. “I am only doing my job as a leader of the Opposition,” he said.

Published - October 04, 2024 09:54 pm IST