K’taka CM hands over ‘gifted’ watch to Assembly Speaker

K’taka CM hands over ‘gifted’ watch to Assembly Speaker

FPJ BureauUpdated: Friday, May 31, 2019, 05:35 PM IST
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Bengaluru : Mired in a controversy over a luxury watch gifted to him, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Wednesday handed it over to the Speaker amid uproar in the state Assembly, declaring it a state asset. As the Assembly was rocked by the controversy for the second consecutive day, an angry Siddaramaiah gave the watch and a letter to Speaker Kagodu Thimappa as BJP and JDS members continued to stage a dharna in the well of the House.

Siddaramaiah’s dramatic gesture came when the House reassembled after two adjournments with BJP and JDS persisting with their demand for a discussion on the issue.

Siddaramaiah hands over “gifted” watch to Assembly Speaker

The Chief Minister said in the letter to the Speaker, who read it out, that he had paid “advance tax” for the watch. “I, being the Chief Minister of Karnataka, by following the precedents set by my predecessors in Office, declare that the gifted watch HUBLOT BIG BANG.301-M as government asset…,” Siddaramaiah said.

He requested the Speaker to forward the watch to the Chief Secretary to place it in the Cabinet Hall at Vidhana Soudha, the state secretariat, on Wednesday. “I, being a law abiding citizen, have paid the tax on the said gifted watch as advance tax on this day of 2nd March 2016,” the letter said.

Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah in soup over Rs 70 lakh watch

He said the pre-owned “HUBLOT BIG BANG-301-M” wrist watch was presented to him by his Dubai-based NRI friend Dr Girish Chandra Varma in July last at Bengaluru as a personal gift. Siddaramiah also said Varma has no official dealings with Government of Karnataka or its organisations.

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