HDK pours heart out in Assembly

Says 40 people (JD-S MLAs) are asking for 40 crore. This is my fate

Turning emotional in Karnataka Assembly over an audio CD on the cash-for-MLC seat controversy involving him, JD-S leader and former chief minister H D Kumaraswamy today offered to face any probe into the issue and said he was ready to go to jail if he was guilty. Raising the issue during the debate on revenue related matters, Kumaraswamy maintained he had committed no crime and had only spoken about the falling standards of politics, which has landed him in a major political row.

"I am ready to face any kind of probe. I am ready to go to jail," said an emotional Kumaraswamy who, in the CD clips played by TV channels, purportedly told supporters of MLC seat aspirant Vijugowda Patil, a JD-S leader from Bijapur district, about the demand for money from his party MLAs.

"40 people (JD-S MLAs) are asking for 40 crore. This is my fate," Kumaraswamy is heard saying. The JD-S leader also said, "I am also ready for a debate on the the issue on the floor of the House."

Ever since the controversy exploded in his face, Kumaraswamy has maintained that no transaction had taken place and he was being portrayed as if he was a "villain" and had committed "a sin".