BJP leaders offered money to quit JD(S), says Vishwanath

Mysuru: BJP MLC H Vishwanath, who is hobnobbing with Congress leaders, on Thursday claimed that BJP leaders offered him money to quit JD(S) and join their party to topple the previous Congress-JDS coalition government.
Speaking to reporters at a media conference here, he alleged that BY Vijayendra, son of former chief minister BS Yediyurappa, offered him money at his apartment in Bengaluru in the presence of his father and MP V Sreenivas Prasad.
“I have mentioned all such information in my book Bombay Days along with other details that led to the collapse of the previous coalition government,” he said.
The former minister refused to share the details of the amount of money offered to him. The book will be released before the assembly polls, he said. He claimed BJP leaders including former CM Yediyurappa, Vijayendra and the Congress and JD(S) MLAs who joined BJP along with him literally abandoned him after his defeat in the Hunsur assembly by polls. “I was recommended to be nominated to the legislative council by a RSS leader, Mukund, and not by the then CM Yediyurappa,” he said, adding BJP leaders did not treat him properly after he quit JD(S).
Dig at Srinivasa Prasad
Attacking MP V Srinivasa Prasad for describing him as a ‘political nomad’ after meeting Congress leaders Mallikarjuna Kharge, DK Shivakumar, and Siddaramaiah, Vishwanath said as he was in Congress for more than 40 years before joining BJP, he met those leaders as a courtesy. “I met Siddaramaiah to enquire about his health. There is nothing much to give political colour to his visit,” he said.
“Srinivas Prasad and I have a long friendship of five decades as both started our political journey together. Prasad began his journey as an RSS Swayam Sevak and then joined different parties like Samatha Congress, Congress, Samata Party, Janatha Party, JD(U), and JD(S). He was also a revenue minister during Congress rule and later joined BJP. He must stop issuing such statements to appease his political bosses to make his son-in-law and Nanjangud MLA a minister,” he said
The MLC said politicians should develop a mindset of political tolerance for meeting leaders of opposition parties. “If PM Narendra Modi wishes the best for AICC president Mallikarjuna Kharge, does it mean Modi will join Congress?” he said.