BENGALURU: "I did not eat any Biryani," Karnataka Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy said in Vidhana Soudha on Monday in an apparent reference to his photograph with the prime accused in the multi-crore IMA Ponzi scam, Mansoor Khan, which had gone viral on the net.
"I am accused of having Biryani at a particular person's house. I was invited during Ramzan. I went there. I did not eat any Biryani. After two health scares, I have given up non-vegetarian (food). I picked up only two morsels of rice," he said in the Assembly during discussion on the trust vote.
The response came after BJP leader C T Ravi raised the IMA Ponzi scam case in the Assembly during the debate on the confidence motion.
Kumaraswamy said that he did not create any hurdles for the investigative agencies looking into the matter.
"After a report was sent from IT department in the Centre to my police, that's when I spoke to the DG (of police) about the lapse in enquiry.
"When I went to IMA accused's office, I saw RBI certificate (on his tax payment). Now, SIT has been successful in nabbing him and they have brought him to Bengaluru. They will investigate now. We will not misuse our govt machineries," Kumaraswamy said.
Karnataka Assembly Speaker K R Ramesh Kumar said, "Don't bother about food habits."
On July 16, a photograph of Kumaraswamy was posted on the official Twitter handle of BJP's Karnataka unit.
Along with the image, the party wrote, " First & foremost will @JanataDal_S mind explaining people of the Karnataka how did IMA fraudster escape from the state under the watch of @hd_kumaraswamy? BTW this picture of @hd_kumaraswamy having Biryani with IMA fraudster explains a lot about how the escape was planned."