Daijiworld Media Network - Bengaluru (SP) 

Bengaluru, Jul 20: Tourism minister, Sa Ra Mahesh, dropped a bombshell in the Assembly on Friday July 19 when he challenged H Vishwanath of the JD(S) who has resigned, to attend the house and reveal how many crores of rupees he received when he sold himself to the BJP. He claimed that Vishwanath had revealed to him about the deal he has struck with the saffron party. 

Intervening on the debate over trust vote when chief minister, H D Kumaraswamy, was addressing the house, Mahesh said that with the mediation of a journalist, JD(S) MLA, H Vishwanath, had struck the deal for Rs 28 crore, as per his information. He said that the journalist referred above, who mediated in sending Vishwanath to Mumbai, was present in the media gallery of the assembly. He offered to reveal the name of the journalist, who is close to minister, G T Devegowda, if the Speaker permitted him to do so. 

Sa Ra Mahesh

"When I met Vishwanath during the municipal election, he said he had borrowed heavily for the elections and he is faced with a liability of Rs 18 crore. He also informed me that BJP leaders were pressurizing him to cross over. This is true to the core, and I swear by my parents, wife, and children. If this is proved to be false, I will retire from politics," he said. 

JD(S) leader, Srinivas Gowda, also spoke on the occasion. He claimed that a sum of five crore rupees had been offered to him for agreeing to join the BJP and that the money had been delivered at his residence. 

Reacting to the allegation, Vishwanath termed the statement made by Mahesh in the house as outright false. He recollected that when he resigned from the post of the state JD(S) president, Mahesh had made similar allegation. "I may be having loans but I can never think of mortgaging myself for clearing this loan. During the 40 years of my political career, I have upheld moral values, principles and policies. I want to know how far was the Speaker right in allowing such a statement to be made in the house. Mahesh is businessman involved with real estate," he stated. 

BJP MLA, S R Vishwanath, pointed out that Srinivas Gowda is aged and his statements can be totally misleading. "A complaint on the allegation now made had been registered in Anti Corruption Bureau. He confessed that he had lied, and got the case there closed. Now he is trying to mislead the house by speaking irresponsibly. I will file breach of privilege cases against both Sa Ra Mahesh and Srinivas Gowda," he said.