Former Karnataka chief minister and JD(S) head HD Kumaraswamy has turned detective, and his target is the current Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah. He has in fact put together a “detective squad” which went all the way to Dubai to solve one important mystery – the price of the diamond-studded watch that adorns Siddaramaiah’s hand.
The watch on the CM’s hand was caught on camera when he met ex-minister Adagooru Huchegowda Vishwanath in the hospital, in Mysuru last week.
On Tuesday, JD(S) leaders released two videos – one from a Dubai watch showroom and the other of Siddaramaiah wearing the watch.
According to a sales person from Dubai who features in the video, it is a Hublot watch that costs a whopping Rs 70 lakh. He can also be heard saying that it is indeed studded with diamonds.
Hublot is a Swiss luxury watch brand. It was the official timekeeper for FIFA World Cup 2014 and has brand ambassadors like Diego Maradona and Justin Rose.
Kumaraswamy told The News Minute that ‘someone’ also told him that the CM’s sunglasses are also of a luxury brand which cost a minimum of Rs 50,000.
The verbal spat started about two weeks ago, when Kumaraswamy at an election rally said, “If Siddaramaiah calls himself a socialist and a follower of freedom fighter Ram Manohar Lohia, why is he wearing such an expensive watch? I don’t care if he wears even Rs 2 crore worth watch, but I don’t want him to mislead people saying he is a socialist.”
When asked what the big deal was about the watch, Kumaraswamy said this.
Siddaramaiah refuted his ex-colleague’s allegations and he said that the watch was a gift, without mentioning who gifted it to him. He said that it was not worth so much and was ready to sell his watch and sunglasses for Rs 5 lakh.
Asked whether he was offended when Siddaramaiah pointed out that a car worth Rs 5 crore had been gifted to his son Nikhil Gowda, Kumaraswamy said, “My son is in charge of Kasturi TV channel. He can take care of himself. I have not bought stuff for myself even.”
One must recall, Siddaramaiah was recently in the news after he bought a water-proof saree worth Rs 1.2 lakh for his wife.
Many JD(S) leaders admire Siddaramaiah from his days in the party and that has not gone down well with Kumaraswamy, Mattu claimed. (Siddaramaiah had left the JD(S) to join the Congress in 2005.)
(Sarayu Srinivasan works with The News Minute.)
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