Muddahanumegowda swears before Lord Manjunatha, says he’s innocent

Bengaluru: Crestfallen Tumakuru Congress MP Muddahanumegowda visited the temple town of Dharmasthala on Thursday (May 2). The visit comes in the backdrop of allegations that he had received Rs 3.5 crore to vacate his seat.

The allegations had certainly upset the leader. So to prove his innocence in the case, Muddahanumegowda chose the Lord Manjunatha before whom he swore not to have taken money.

He was quoted by the Economic Times as saying “Two insignificant persons recorded an audio I was not party to. It got circulated in the TV, print and the social media. I thought the JD(S) leaders would clarify that no such deal ever took place, but they did not. I did not have an option but to prove my innocence in the temple precincts of Lord Manjunatha.”

It is an unchallenged belief that anyone who swears before Lord Manjunatha is assumed to be speaking the truth.

It might be recalled that Muddahanumegowda had not resisted from making his anger over losing the Tumakuru seat public. He was so livid with the decision to relinquish his seat that he had even gone ahead and filed his nomination.

But due to the efforts of former CM and Congress Legislature Party Siddaramaiah and president of Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee Dinesh Gundu Rao, he withdrew his nomination. It was here that rumours of Muddahanumegowda striking a deal by accepting crores emerged.

“I withdrew from the fray only after my party leaders spoke to me and persuaded me to do so. I respected their wish in the interest of honouring the coalition arrangement,” Gowda said.

Gowda added that the people of his constituency did not believe the rumours that he was bought over. However, in his own words, “I wanted to remove even an iota of doubt if anyone still had one. I chose the temple to end any possible suspicion,” he said.

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