Koujalgi sees BJP hand, not to quit

By Our Special Correspondent

BANGALORE, APRIL 5. Putting on a brave face, the KPCC President, Mr. V.S. Koujalgi, on Thursday refuted the allegation of bribe- taking against him, saw no reason for his resignation and added that he could not be compared with the former BJP President, Mr. Bangaru Laxman, who resigned following the Tehelka ``expose''.

Returning to the City from Belgaum District to address a press conference, Mr. Koujalgi, however, agreed that he was facing a probe by the Lokayukta into the allegation against him. As was to be expected, he saw the hand of the BJP in the smear campaign against him.

Mr. Koujalgi said that he would await the report of the Lokayukta investigation against him and take a decision only after it was submitted.

He also agreed that the person who had approached the Lokayukta with a complaint against him (Mr. Anil Kadam) had submitted a video cassette to the agency to buttress the allegation. Mr. Koujalgi said that he had himself viewed the cassette with the Lokayukta. He made light of the contents of the recordings saying that apart from his picture, there was nothing incriminatory in that cassette. It did not contain even a recording of the purported conversation, he said.

Mr. Kadam has alleged that he gave a total sum of Rs. 40,000 to Mr. Koujalgi to secure a contract for Rs. 2 lakhs from the Belgaum Zilla Panchayat in 1998. At that time, Mr. Koujalgi was an Opposition MLA.

He wondered as to how he was being scandalised after being in the public life of the State for the last 29 years. He had been elected to the Legislative Assembly six times and held offices such as Minister and Speaker of the Assembly. As a representative of the people, it was natural for him to recommend the cases of those who wanted to get work done in the Government, he said.

Mr. Koujalgi claimed that the timing of the campaign against him was that it should coincide with the rally organised by the BJP on the Tehelka issue.

Clean chit to rival: The KPCC President did not suspect anyone in his own party for the attack against him. He said he enjoyed the confidence of all sections of the party. He gave a clean chit to one of his rivals in the Belgaum District Congress, Mr. S.B. Sidnal, former MP (Mr. Sidnal wanted to contest against Mr. Koujalgi in the election to the presidentship of the KPCC). He was unaware whether Mr. Sidnal had complained against him to the AICC. As regards Mr. A.K. Kotrashetty, former MP who held a press conference in Belgaum on Wednesday and levelled the allegation of bribe-taking, Mr. Koujalgi said that he might be in the BJP. Mr. Kotrashetty was in the habit of changing parties, he added.

Mr. Koujalgi said that he had already apprised the AICC President, Ms. Sonia Gandhi, about the allegation which he dubbed as ``video cheating and blackmail''.

`Judicial probe not needed': To a question, he said that there was no issue of propriety involved in the president of the ruling party of the State facing an investigation at the hands of the anti-corruption authority (Lokayukta). People in public life faced accusations, and they could not go on sending their letters of resignation. Mr. Koujalgi also declined to face a judicial inquiry saying that he did not want to oblige the BJP.

There was no reason for the fear that the Government would tamper with the evidence against him and interfere in the Lokayukta investigation. Mr. Koujalgi said that he would go ahead with the party's programme to hold rallies against the NDA Government on the Tehelka issue.

The rallies in Hubli, Bidar and Bangalore would be held on schedule on April 8, 9 and 12, respectively, he added.

School affairs: About the allegations against him with regard to the affairs of the Kittur Rani Chennamma School in Belgaum District (of which he is the President) levelled by Dr. Mahendra Kanthi, Mr. Koujalgi said that all the decisions of the board of management of the school were being taken unitedly.

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