'Supporting Cong to remove black spot from my father's career'

Probable chief minister candidate of the Congress Party-Janata Dal (Secular) alliance, H.D. Kumaraswamy, on Wednesday stated that his decision to accept the alliance was to remove the black spot from his father, former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda's career.

"I have been presented with offers from both sides; I am not saying this loosely. There's a black spot on my father's career because of my decision to go with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in 2004 and 2005. Now, god has given me an opportunity to remove this black spot, therefore, I am going with the Congress," he said while addressing a press conference here.

Responding to a question on meeting BJP state in-charge Prakash Javadekar, Kumaraswamy dodged the question, saying "Who is Javadekar? Who is that gentleman?"

Lashing out at the alleged bribing of JD(S) MLAs, Kumaraswamy questioned why no inquiry was being conducted by the income tax department on the source of the cash being offered.

"JD(S) MLAs are being offered Rs.100 crore each. Where is this black money coming from? They (BJP) are supposedly the servers of poor people, and they are offering money today. Where are the income tax officials?" he asked.

Amid allegations of BJP attempting to poach MLAs of his party, Kumaraswamy stated that the same would be done by him as well in retaliation.

"Forget 'Operation Kamal' being successful; there are people who are ready to leave the BJP and come with us. If you try to poach one (leader) from ours, we'll do the same and take double from you. I'm also telling the Governor to not take any decision which encourages horse-trading," said Kumaraswamy.

Earlier in the day, the JD(S) in its meeting chose Kumaraswamy unanimously as the leader of the legislative party leader.

Results of the Karnataka Assembly polls announced on Tuesday evening showed that the BJP won 104 seats, emerging as the single largest party, while the Congress and JD (S) bagged 78 and 37 seats, respectively.

Soon after, the Congress announced that it would support the JD (S), taking their total seat share to 117, thus resulting in a fractured mandate.

As the results of the poll in the state have left the assembly in hung, the final decision will be taken by the Governor, Vajubhai Rudabhai Vala.