Bengaluru: Hitting back ingeniously at Chief Minister Siddaramaiah for his claim that state Janata Dal (Secular) chief H.D. Kumaraswamy had travelled on the same aircraft as BJP president Amit Shah to discuss a secret post-poll pact, the JD(S) produced a letter by a Delhi- based aviation company that purportedly showed he had travelled with its former leader and Chamrajpet MLA, Zameer Ahmed Khan on a ferry from Mumbai to Karachi and returned by a special flight to Bengaluru on April 13. Having raised a furore as intended, the party later confessed to the document circulating on social media since Sunday night being fake.

Cong to file plaint
While an angry Congress decided to lodge a complaint with the Cyber Cell police to investigate the issue and demand a CID inquiry, the Janata Dal (Secular) media cell responded by taking responsibility for creating the letter using digital technology.




Written on the letterhead of VSR Aviation, the letter said two passengers “Siddaramaiah and Zameer Ahmed” were booked on a ferry leaving Mumbai at 5 pm and reaching Karachi at 6.15p.m on April 13 and on a special 7 pm flight from Karachi to Bengaluru via Delhi the same day and asked for permission to land at the HAL airport in the city, late that night at 11.45 pm.

The letter released on social media late Sunday left the Congress angry and defensive until the Janata Dal (Secular) confessed to the prank, to demonstrate how easy it was to create fake tickets in this day and age of technology and emphasise its point that there was no meeting of Mr Shah and Mr Kumaraswamy on a flight as alleged by the Chief Minister.

sfd

Janata Dal (Secular) supremo Deve Gowda had a field day with the fake ticket episode, asking Mr Siddaramaiah to prove if the letter speaking of him travelling to Karachi with Mr Zameer Ahmed Khan was genuine or fake. “Let him tell us if it is the original or duplicate. If he has any proof of Mr Kumaraswamy meeting Mr Shah, he should release it,” he demanded, adding that Mr Siddaramaiah should be ashamed of repeatedly telling lies.

“He is saying Deve Gowda is joining hands with the BJP and repeating this a 100 times. When (Congress president) Rahul Gandhi came to Hassan, he said the Janata Dal (Secular) was the Bharatiya Janata Party’s B-team. Since then, such lies are being spread,” he deplored.

Recalling that he had told the national media recently he would not endorse Mr Kumaraswamy joining hands with the BJP in case of a fractured mandate in Karnataka, Mr Gowda reiterated that he would prefer to sit in the Opposition if the party did not get a majority.

“Let Mr Siddaramaiah spell out what he will do if the Congress doesn’t get a majority,” he challenged.