By IANS,
Hubli (Karnataka) : A lot of money is needed to run a political party making corruption inevitable and even Mahtama Gandhi would not have found a way out of this dilemma, former Karnataka chief minister H.D. Kumaraswamy said Sunday, taking a dig at anti-corruption activists.
“I am being frank. If Mahatma Gandhi was alive today, either he would have to bank on money from corruption or leave politics,” the Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) leader told reporters in this north Karnataka town, about 370 km from Bangalore.
“In the present circumstances, you cannot run a political party without (money from) corruption,” Kumaraswamy, son of former prime minister H.D. Deve Gowda, said.
He challenged followers of Gandhi like social activist Anna Hazare who Saturday ended his fast-unto-death for strong anti-graft measures, to “come out and run a political party without (money from) corruption”.
Hazare’s fast, which received huge support from across the country, has resulted in the central government agreeing to form a ten-member panel – five ministers and five civil society representatives – to draft the Lokpal (omudsman) Bill.
Kumaraswamy, now a Lok Sabha member from Ramanagaram constituency, adjoining Bangalore, later clarified that his statement did not mean he was running his JD-S from money made through corruption.
“I did not mean it. What I said in the present circumstances, huge money was needed to launch and maintain a political party,” he told reporters at Haveri, about 70 kms from Hubli.
“We need money and we raise it from public through donations,” Kumaraswamy said.