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Updated: Mar 22, 2019 23:47 IST

The Congress, at a press conference on Friday, asked the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government to order an independent investigation by the newly appointed Lokpal, the anti-corruption ombudsman, after a magazine article claimed that photocopies of pages from a diary allegedly maintained by former Karnataka chief minister and BJP leader BS Yeddyurappa, seized during an income tax raid on Congress leader DK Shivakumar’s residence, show payments made by the former to the BJP, its senior leaders LK Advani, Rajnath Singh, Arun Jaitley and Nitin Gadkari, and several judges, totaling Rs 2,690 crore.

The BJP responded immediately, with Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad saying the Congress was seeking to “create a web of lies”. “When the IT officials asked Shivakumar to authenticate the diary, he refused to do so saying he is not sure about the genuineness of the documents,” Prasad said.

The income-tax department said in a statement later in the day that the photocopied sheets of the diary “prima-facie appear to be of a doubtful nature”.

The veracity of the documents and forensic analysis of Yeddyurappa’s handwriting could not be ascertained in absence of the original pages of the diary, which Shivakumar failed to produce.

Read more| ‘BJP Chowkidars thieves’: Rahul Gandhi targets PM Modi over Yeddyurappa row

Quoting from a report in Caravan magazine, Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said five facts had been disclosed by the diary: Rs 2,690 crore had been extorted, Rs 1,800 crore given to the BJP, Yeddyurappa was CM from May 2008 to July 2011 and the diary contained his signatures and names of top BJP leaders.

“If there is no truth in this diary, why isn’t PM (Narendra) Modi ready for an investigation? Now, even the Lokpal is appointed. Why can’t the first independent investigation be on this issue?,” Surjewala said.

“The diary with BS Yeddyurappa’s signature on it was with the income-tax department since 2017. If that is the case, why did Modiji and the BJP not get it investigated?,” he asked.

Congress president Rahul Gandhi tweeted a link to the story with the remark, “BJP ke sare Chowkidar Chor Hai (All BJP watchmen are thieves). NoMo. Arun Jaitley. Rajnath Singh.”

Responding to the charge, Yeddyurappa said the documents cited by the Congress were forged. “Congress party and its leaders are bankrupt of issues and ideas...I-T department officials have already probed the issue to find that the documents and signatures and handwritten notes are forged ones.”

The I-T department stated that Shivakumar “was being raided for tax violations” and that he did not disclose the source of information to the I-T officials.

In his statement to the I-T department on October 19, 2017, Shivakumar said “he did not know the time period in which the said transactions have taken place and that he did not have the originals of the said loose sheets”.

In a hurriedly called press briefing late on Friday, Shivakumar added to the confusion, saying: “There are a lot of issues. I don’t want to comment at present. Confidentiality has to be maintained. Let me see what tax officials have said”. An aide to the leader said he would address another press meet on Saturday.

According to the IT department, “In response to the question as to why the said matter was not brought to the notice of ACB [Anti Corruption Branch] or Lokayukta of Karnataka, Sh D.K. Shivakumar stated that as he did not know about the genuineness of the said loose sheets, he did not inform the same to enforcement agencies.”

This isn’t the first time Shivakumar’s name has been mentioned in connection with a diary. Last year, the BJP claimed that the arrest of an employee of Karnataka Bhawan in New Delhi had unearthed a diary showing illegal payments made by the leader to the party’s central leadership totalling hundreds of crore.

BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra said at the time that the payments were made to “RG and SG among others” – a reference to Congress president Rahul Gandhi and his mother Sonia Gandhi. Shivakumar had denied those charges then and challenged the investigative agencies to proceed on them if true.