Ever since coming to power, Karnataka Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy has been embroiled in one controversy after another. Not just CM Kumaraswamy, the entire JDS-Congress coalition government has been in controversies since its inception.
According to the documents accessed by Republic TV, six family members of CM HD Kumaraswamy are in the tax defaulters’ list released by Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP). From Kumaraswamy’s wife to his sister-in-law, the family has evaded taxes worth Rs. 3.17 Crores. The most appalling thing about the evasion is that it is not one person who has evaded it. Nor it is a one-time evasion. This is clearly not an aberration but rather a pattern of behaviour. Taxes have been systematically evaded between financial years 2008-09 and 2018-19, as if this country is their colony and they are the colonizers who are systematically draining away the wealth of the nation. Another appalling thing is that there has been no action against him and his family members.
Here is the full list of alleged tax defaulters belonging to the CM Kumaraswamy’s family accessed by Republic TV:
1) H Kavitha: 55, 21,479 lakh rupees
(Former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda’s daughter-in-law)
2) HD Shaila: 55, 21, 479 lakh rupees
(HD Deve Gowda’s daughter)
3) Anasuya: 55, 21, 479 lakh rupees
(HD Deve Gowda’s daughter)
4) Bhavani Revanna: 41, 79,440 lakh rupees
( HD Deve Gowda’s daughter-in-law and wife PWD minister HD Revanna)
5) Anitha Kumaraswamy: 54, 85, 521
( HD Kumaraswamy’s wife)
6) HD Ramesh: 55, 21, 389
(HD Deve Gowda’s son)
The grand total of the amount in question is Rs. 3.17 crore.
Upon being asked about the reports alleging his family members of tax evasion, CM Kumaraswamy rubbished the report and said it is a conspiracy against him. He said, “I’m not aware of the total station survey report. My family members are not tax defaulters, you can go check. Why are you playing false reports? Don’t mislead the public. This is a conspiracy.” CM Kumaraswamy failed to explain as to how come this could be a conspiracy. On the other hand, Republic TV has the records and documents to back the claims of tax evasion. In fact, BBMP is run by the coalition government of the Congress and JDS. Mayor of BBMP, R. Sampath Raj is from INC and the Deputy Mayor Padmavathi Narsimhamurthy is from Janata Dal (Secular). Despite this, how come BBMP managed to conspire against him? It looks like CM Kumaraswamy is making lame excuses and trying to mislead the public.
It’s a clear-cut case of power getting to someone’s head. The sense of entitlement is very high among the members of the political families. They think that they can get away with anything and no one can dare to take any action against them, as if the entire country is their fiefdom. This is a blatant abuse of power. It’s really hard to believe that such a family gave the country a prime minister, in fact, it is rather nauseating.
A proper enquiry should be carried out into the tax evasion case and the accused should be thrown behind the bars. The law is equal for all be it the family of a chief minister or the family of a common person.
