The Jan Sangram Parishad (JSP), headed by activist S R Hiremath, on Monday released a list of 11 candidates who it said are corrupt. It has asked the people to start a movement to defeat them.
The list released at a press meet held here includes former chief ministers B S Yeddyurappa, H D Kumaraswamy, M Veerappa Moily, Dharam Singh and D V Sadananda Gowda, D K Shivakumar’s brother D K Suresh, H N Ananthkumar, Shobha Karandlaje, BJP state president Prahlad Joshi, Sriramulu and Prashant Deshpande, the son of Minister R V Deshpande.
“We have decided to ask these politicians some hard hitting questions. This is the only time they will respond to the questions. We urge the people and the media to do the same,” he said.
“Some of these tainted politicians have been named in Lokayukta reports. Some others have escaped the Lokayukta net,” Hiremath added.
According to an official statement from the JSP, the organisation will distribute pamphlets, hold public meetings and focus on providing details of corruption cases in which politicians are involved.
First time candidate Prashant Deshpande said he would wait for the allegations to become clearer before commenting.
“I am currently caught up in campaigning and have not heard about this. I would not like to react without understanding the context in which my name has been mentioned in the list,” he said.
Efforts to reach others on the list were unsuccessful.