Shivakumar, Gowda feud spills onto the streets

The running political and business battle between the families of former PM HD Devegowda and Congress MLA DK Shivakumar spilt on to the streets of Bangalore and the neighboring Kanakapura region on Thursday.

The running political and business battle between the families of former PM HD Devegowda and Congress MLA DK Shivakumar spilt on to the streets of Bangalore and the neighboring Kanakapura region on Thursday. Supporters of the Congress MLA pelted buses with stones in Bangalore and Kanakapura, the MLA8217;s home constituency, to protest against an arrest warrant issued by a Bellary court yesterday against Shivakumar8217;s family members in an illegal iron ore mining case.

The MLA has accused CM HD Kumaraswamy of targeting him for being at the forefront of recent exposures of alleged corruption by the Chief Minister8217;s family in iron-ore mining and the alleged accumulation of disproportionate wealth by Gowda8217;s family. The Congress party in Karnataka has aligned behind Shivakumar and accused the state government of filing false cases against the MLA.

Chief Minister Kumaraswamy on Thursday, however, denied any role in the action initiated by the forest department against Shivakumar8217;s wife, brother, cousins and others. The Congress MLA8217;s family is being accused of illegally stocking iron ore and iron ore waste, procured from the government-run Mysore Minerals Limited, when Shivakumar was a minister, at throwaway prices. Kumaraswamy today released documents to substantiate the allegation that eight companies linked to the Shivakumar family obtained iron ore from MML between 2003 and 2004 and stored them at a dump in Bellary, in contravention to forest and mines and minerals regulations. The forest department seized nearly 2.78 metric tones of iron ore from the PKP iron ore yard at Bellary on Wednesday.

Challenging the Chief Minister to order a CBI inquiry into the allegations against his family, the Congress CM did admit that some of his supporters 8220;overcome by emotion8217;8217; indulged in stone throwing. Police said 15 people had been arrested in connection with the violence.