The Hindu

BANGALORE, Jan 6: Former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda on Monday ridiculed Karnataka Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa’s decision not to file a defamation case against him with respect to his allegations against him (the Chief Minister) on the Bangalore-Mysore Infrastructure Corridor (BMIC) Project.

“Filing of any defamation case would have provided an opportunity to the Janata Dal (Secular) to produce all the evidence relating to fraud in the BMIC project. It would also have given the right to the respondent to uncover the truth about the massive fraud and prove it in a court of law by calling witnesses, including Mr. Yeddyurappa, BMIC promoter Ashok Kheny, and bureaucrats to testify. It was this fear that had forced Mr. Yeddyurappa to talk about ‘good relations’ with the Opposition,” Mr. Gowda remarked at a press conference in Bangalore.

(On January 1, Mr. Yeddyurappa announced his decision not to file a defamation case against Mr. Gowda, describing it as his “New Year gift” to the senior politician.)

‘Priceless gift”

Terming this as a “priceless gift,” Mr. Gowda on Monday remarked that: “I do not have the strength to accept the Chief Minister’s gift.”

He noted that if the defamation case was not filed, then the State Government would be the only party before the court regarding the BMIC row. But the State government was trying to clear all the hurdles for the BMIC project, he said while reiterating his charges that Mr. Yeddyurappa in conspiracy with Mr. Kheny was trying to bury the Rs. 30,000-crore alleged fraud.