New Delhi, Apr 11 (PTI): H D Kumaraswamy, who heads major Opposition party JD(S) in Karnataka, has landed in trouble for his remarks on Mahatma Gandhi.
Kumaraswamy had allegedly said that even Mahatma Gandhi would have turned corrupt in today's politics.
"If our leaders are talking like this, how are you going to root out corruption?" asked 72-year-old Anna Hazare, who is leading a massive campaign to introduce a new tough law against corruption, the Jan Lokpal Bill.
"No, I will not comment. It is a meaningless utterance and I will not give (my) reaction to it," Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said in Kolkata.
The BJP - whose government in Karnataka has been accused repeatedly of corruption by Kumaraswamy leapt to the occasion.
"What else can you except from Kumaraswamy? Nothing better," said party spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad.
"It has proved that Kumaraswamy is antithesis of Anna Hazare. Hazare has generated a new hope, new aspiration for the entire country - but today's statement of Kumaraswamy saying that even Gandhiji would have been corrupt, would have become a corrupt leader if he had continued in politics today - shows the utter cynicism of a former chief minister. It is really shocking because the common man in India wants fervently that the society should be corruption free," said Karnataka's Law Minister, Suresh Kumar.
However, Kumaraswamy said today that he has been misquoted.