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    Congress MP from Tumakuru SP Muddahanumegowda swears innocence at Dharmasthala

    Synopsis

    He chose the temple to come clean on an allegation that he had struck a “deal” with JD(S) national president HD Deve Gowda to withdraw from the race in the April 18 Lok Sabha polls.

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    SP Muddahanumegowda
    BENGALURU: Chief minister HD Kumaraswamy and the Opposition BJP leader BS Yeddyurappa are known to challenge each other to come to the temple town of Dharmasthala and take a “truth test” before Lord Manjunatha whenever they hurl serious allegations at each other.

    But on Thursday, it was neither of them, but sitting Congress MP from Tumakuru SP Muddahanumegowda who chose the temple to come clean on an allegation that he had struck a “deal” with JD(S) national president HD Deve Gowda to withdraw from the race in the April 18 Lok Sabha polls.

    Devotees take the claims of a person taking oath at the temple to be true.

    The Tumakuru Congress MP had given a tough time to the JD(S) supremo by filing his nomination from the seat, while his party had conceded the seat to the JD(S) in a seat-sharing pact.

    The talk between the Congress and the JD(S) had started with the premise that the parties will keep their existing seats. When the JD (S) demanded Mysuru, the Congress gave away Tumakuru instead, causing anguish and setting off protests in the district Congress unit of Tumakuru.

    The Tumakuru MP’s visit to Dharmasthala followed leaks of an audio tape containing conversations in which one person claims the MP withdrew from the fray after striking a deal with the JD(S) national president. “Two insignificant persons recorded an audio I was not party to. It got circulated in the TV, print and the social media. I thought the JD(S) leaders would clarify that no such deal ever took place, but they did not. I did not have an option but to prove my innocence in the temple precincts of Lord Manjunatha,” Gowda told ET.

    Majority of the people in Tumakuru constituency, he said, had not believed the claims made in the audio. “But I wanted to remove even an iota of doubt if anyone still had one. I chose the temple to end any possible suspicion,” he said.

    “I withdrew from the fray only after my party leaders spoke to me and persuaded me to do so. I respected their wish in the interest of honouring the coalition arrangement,” Gowda said.


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