Bangalore, Mar 20: Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa today hit back at JD-S leader H D Kumarswamy accusing him of getting a large number of sites alloted to his family and receiving bribe from the mining sector when he was at the helm.
Yeddyurappa alleged that a trust run by Kumaraswamy's family received Rs 250 crore as donations and a bribe of Rs 168 crore from the mining sector when he was the Chief Minister.
He charged JD-S chief H D Deve Gowda and Kumaraswamy with getting 146 sites allotted to their family members illegally during Kumaraswamy's tenure as Chief Minister.
"During 20 months of (JDS-BJP) coalition Government, this family enjoyed the fruits of power. Now it is making baseless allegations, particularly against me," Yeddyurappa said.
The Chief Minister denied allegations of graft levelled against him by Kumaraswamy, who is a Lok Sabha member and president of the JD-S state unit, and termed them baseless.
Kumaraswamy had alleged yesterday that two firms managed by Yeddyurappa's sons had received Rs 13 crore as kickback from a company for allotting a Rs 1,032 crore Upper Bhadra Lift Irrigation project.
Yeddyurappa said Kumaraswamy, as Chief Minister, sanctioned the Rs 550 crore contract at Rs 1032 crore (inflating the value) and also gave approval for an advance of Rs 103 crore to be paid to the company after chairing a meeting of the Karnataka Neeravari Nigama, state owned irrigation corporation.
Kumaraswamy has persistently put Yeddyurappa in the line of fire on charges of corruption and nepotism. The Chief Minister's camp has also gone hammer and tongs at the family of former Prime Minister Deve Gowda levelling counter charges. PTI
