Karnataka Congress lawmaker denies 'paying crores' to high command

Bengaluru: Karnataka’s Congress lawmaker K. Govindaraju on Thursday denied paying “crores of rupees” to the party high command or President Sonia Gandhi, Vice-President Rahul Gandhi and Treasurer Motilal Vohra, whose allegedly abbreviated names were found in a diary at his home here.

“The diary, alleged to have been found when the Income Tax officials searched my house last year, does not belong to me. The entries in it were not made by me nor its my handwriting. Someone had left it in my house,” Govindaraju told reporters here.

A member of the Legislative Council and Parliamentary Secretary to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, Govindaraju, however, admitted that the IT sleuths raided his house a year ago in connection with the filing of tax returns for the previous fiscal (2015-16) and earlier years.

Terming the diary contents “explosive”, former Chief Minister and state BJP chief B.S. Yeddyurappa told reporters here last week that initials ‘SG’ stood for Sonia Gandhi, ‘RG’ Rahul Gandh, ‘MV’ Motilal Vohra and ‘DVGS’ for Digvijay Singh, who is in-charge of the ruling party’s affairs in the state.

“Govindraju paid about Rs 1,000 crore to the Congress high command over the last couple of years at the behest of Siddaramaiah to ensure his continuation as the Chief Minister in the state,” he alleged.

However, Govindraju dismissed the charge.

“I know nothing about the diary or its entries. You should ask the IT department and find out how Yeddyurappa came to know about its contents. I have not paid any money to the high command, or to the offices of SG, RG or MV as mentioned in the diary.

“I have already told the IT officials that the diary did not belong to me and would have been planted in my house to trap me. It is a mystery how they (IT sleuths) found it in my house,” he added.