KA-PHONETAPPING-SHIVAKUMAR

Shivakumar takes sides with HDK, rejects phone-tapping charges
Bengaluru, Aug 16 (PTI) Even as the clamour grows for
a probe into the alleged phone-tapping scandal during the
previous Congress-JD(S) government headed by H D Kumaraswamy,
senior Congress leader D K Shivakumar on Friday rejected the
snooping charges, and appeared to side with the former Chief
Minister.
     Amid signs that the scandal is gaining political
steam, Shivakumar, who was Minister in the Kumaraswamy
government, said Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa was free to
order any probe into the matter.
     Several Congress leaders, including its legislature
party leader Siddaramaiah, M Mallikarjuna Kharge and Home
Minister in the alliance government M B Patil have demanded a
probe into the scandal.
     Other than Shivakumar no other senior Congress leader
has so far rejected the allegation.
     Disqualified JDS MLA A H Vishwanath, who alleged
earlier this week that phones of several political leaders,
officials and journalists were tapped, indicated in Mysuru on
Thursday that snooping would not have happened without the
knowledge of the then Chief Minister.
    Many BJP leaders, including former Chief Minister
Jagadish Shettar, have accused Kumaraswamy in the
phone-tapping scandal and demanded the probe.
     "Phone-tapping has not happened... I have also
inquired and asked people about it...it is all lies, and there
is no room for such things," Shivakumar said.
     "Our Congress-JD(S) government did not get involved
in such things. Yediyurappa can conduct a probe, let him
probe. We are not opposed to it," he told reporters here.
     Kumaraswamy on his part has denied allegations of
phone-tapping during his tenure.
     "I was the one who kept repeating that the Chief
Minister's position was not permanent. There was no need for
me to remain in and save the chair (of CM) by tapping phones.
Allegations made against me by some people in this matter is
far from truth," he had tweeted.
     Siddaramaiah on Thursday demanded a probe stating
that "Phone tapping is a serious offence. Let there be an
investigation into the issue and take action against those
responsible, if proved."
    Despite growing demand for probe into the scandal from
within BJP, and also Congress, Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa
has not made his stand clear.
As the matter snowballed into a major controversy, he
had on Wednesday said, "I am observing the developments. I
will discuss with the Chief Secretary (T M Vijay Bhaskar) and
think about further action."
    The snooping controversy surfaced as Bengaluru police
commissioner Bhaskar Rao earlier this month ordered an inquiry
into the phone-tapping incident against the backdrop of a
recently leaked telephone conversation purportedly between him
and someone in Delhi lobbying on his behalf with some
politicians for the post he is occupying now. PTI KSU RS
NVG NVG

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from a PTI feed.)