Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru (SP)

Mangaluru, Feb 20: Chief whip of the state legislative council, Ivan D'Souza, used the platform of the press conference he organized on Sunday February 19 in the city which was meant to criticize BJP, to dispute comments passed by veteran Congress leader B Janardhan Poojary against him.

Poojary had, in an earlier instance, pointed fingers at Ivan D'Souza as being the reason behind chief minister Siddaramaiah not visiting Kudroli Shree Gokarnanatheshwara Temple during his visit to the city in October 2016. Poojary had said that because of the MLC, the CM had visited Ivan's house instead of Kudroli temple. He had also lashed out at Ivan and accused him of 'trying to divide Catholics in the region by making baseless charges against MLA J R Lobo' and said that Congress would 'definitely lose' the next elections if ticket was given to Ivan.

In response, Ivan said, "It was wrong on his (Poojary's) part to blame me for the cancellation of visit by state chief minister Siddaramaiah to Lord Gokarnanatheshwara temple at Kudroli. I never advised the CM against going to Kudroli.

Ivan explained that after the arrival of the CM at the airport here, the subject of visiting Kudroli had come up during the talks. "The CM said he had no plans to visit Kudroli as he did not have any invitation for the same. This was what had happened but I do not want to pass any comments about the happenings now. The CM has often visited my house during his tours to the district, and it was no different in October," he said.

Ivan said he is ready to accept the challenge of going to Dharmasthala and taking a vow in the presence of Lord Manjunatheshwara about the truthfulness of his statement. "I am going to Dharmasthala on Wednesday. I will offer prayers to the Lord there, duly submitting to Him that I have done nothing wrong relating to this issue. I am even ready for an 'aane pramaana' at Dharmastala," he stated.