BANGALORE: Former chief minister HD Kumaraswamy on Thursday claimed that his father HD Deve Gowda was offered bribe by middlemen involved in defence deals but the JD(S) supremo categorically denied it.
“The middlemen had approached us in 1996 with an offer of bribe to strike a defence deal... when my father was PM,” Kumaraswamy said. He, however, did not provide any evidence to support his claim.
Hours after making the claim, Kumaraswamy attempted to shield his father saying Gowda did not have any information about middlemen approaching him.
Gowda, however, while reacting to Kumaraswamy’s remarks said his son never approached him with any recommendation of middlemen to strike a defence deal. “I am not aware of any offer made to me,” he added. “No MP or anybody approached me when I was PM,” he said.
The JD(S) national president, however, said someone could have made a bribe offer to Kumaraswamy in a “casual way.”
“In fact, during my prime ministership, I ensured middlemen did not approach me,” Gowda said. He also said he was never influenced by anybody.