Hassan(Karnataka): Arrested BJP leader G. Devaraje Gowda alleged on Friday that Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar offered him Rs 100 crore to malign the names of former Chief Minister and JD-S state President H.D. Kumaraswamy, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Speaking to media from the police vehicle after being sent to judicial custody on Friday, Devaraje Gowda claimed that Shivakumar even sent him Rs 5 crore as advance. “After I refused the offer, police cases were lodged against me and I was arrested. I am ready to expose him (Shivakumar) once I am released. The Congress government is going to collapse in Karnataka,” he claimed.
Devaraje Gowda added, “I was told to make a statement that it was Kumaraswamy who circulated the pen drives containing sex videos (involving Kumaraswamy's nephew Prajwal Revanna, the grandson of ex-PM H.D. Deve Gowda). But it was Shivakumar who obtained the pen drive from Karthik Gowda, who worked as a driver for Prajwal Revanna, and planned the entire episode.”
A team of four ministers, including N. Cheluvarayaswamy, Krishna Byre Gowda, and Priyank Kharge, was formed to handle the developments relating to the sex video scandal, Devaraje Gowda claimed. “They had planned in a big way to bring disrepute to Prime Minister Modi, Kumaraswamy, and the BJP. They offered me Rs 100 crore and sent Rs 5 crore as advance to Room No. 110 at Bowring Club. A local leader from Channarayapatna, Gopalaswamy, was sent to negotiate the deal,” Devaraje Gowda claimed.