JD(S) leader H D Kumaraswamy today ended his two-day-old indefinite fast to demand a CBI probe into ruling BJP’s allegation that he and his family had amassed illegal wealth of Rs 1,500 crore, saying he was doing so bowing to the directives of his party and its workers.
Kumaraswamy was offered a glass of fruit juice by Jnanapeetha Awardee U R Ananthamurthy at Freedom Park after he urged him to withdrew the fast, which the JD(S) leader accepted and ended his stir. “Personally I am in favour of continuing with the fast. But my party leaders, partymen and leading personalities have been mounting pressure on me to give up the fast. I am obliging all of them and respecting their sentiments.”
Kumaraswamy criticised the ‘callous manner’ in which allegations were hurled against family members of former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda, including himself, by Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa and BJP. Earlier, a three-member ministers team comprising Home Minister R Ashoka, Labour Minister B N Bacchegowda and Housing Minister V Somanna called on Kumaraswamy and handed over a letter to him from Yeddyurappa, requesting him to call off the fast.
Yeddyurappa invited Kumarawamy for parleys on the issues raised by him and ruled out seeking a CBI probe. A team of doctors, who conducted a medical check up on Kumaraswamy cautioned him against continuing the fast as his blood pressure and sugar levels fluctuated.
