'Hang me if I've done anything wrong': Shivakumar responds to power theft allegations

Bengaluru: Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar on Friday rejected allegations by Janata Dal-Secular leader and ex-CM HD Kumaraswamy who claimed that the Congress leader had drawn electricity in an illegal way for Mekedaatu Yatra and construction of a mall.

Responding to reporters' questions at his Sadashivanagar residence here, Shivakumar said: "I am not scared of hollow threats and blackmail. I am ready to present all documents pertaining to these allegations. Hang me if you find any wrong.

"Kumaraswamy has lost his mental balance. He is talking rubbish out of desperation. The people of the state have already given him an answer in the last election. The Lulu mall land belongs to a Central government organisation. How can it be illegal land? One of my friends had purchased the land from the government body. I purchased it from them and entered a joint development agreement to build a mall. What is wrong in it?" he said while replying to an allegation the mall was built on illegal land.

"Kumaraswamy and his family have tried this trick in the past too. His father, too, made a futile attempt to contain me through a bureaucrat named Jayaraj. Now they are trying the same. As a public figure, I have declared all my income and assets. Let them get an investigation done, I am ready for everything," the Congress leader said.