Bengaluru, 23 May

Amid reports of his name figuring in the ED charge sheet in the National Herald case, Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar on Friday said he and his brother DK Suresh have donated money to the Congress-run newspaper.

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah backed his deputy, saying there is nothing wrong in donating money.

"Me and DK Suresh donated Rs 25 lakh each to National Herald. What is wrong in that. We have donated to a newspaper run by our party. What's wrong in that," Shivakumar told reporters in Kolhar village in Vijayapura district.

He was responding a question by a journalist that his as well as his brother DK Suresh’s name figures in Enforcement Directorate charge sheet in the National Herald case.

When he was told that Rs 2.5 crore was donated, he said, "Yes we have given to the Trust. We are not denying it. Did we give it stealthily. No. We have openly given from our income."

Asserting that he has donated money, the DCM said he will continue to do the same in future as well.

He alleged that there is politics behind mentioning his name in the ED charge sheet.

Shivakumar’s brother Suresh said, "We have donated about Rs two crore to Rs 2.5 crore to the trust. We have answered all the questions raised by the (ED) officers. We are not saying that we have not donated money. We have no information whether donating was wrong," Suresh said in Bengaluru.

He alleged that the charge sheet has been filed in a manner to fix the Congress leaders.

The charges which will be questioned in the court, Suresh said.

The former MP said the charge sheet was a political gimmick.

"This is not Sonia Gandhi’s trust but Young India Trust. We donated to the Young India Trust. This was not an institution for personal gain and it was never used for personal motive,"Suresh said.

To a question, he said the money donated were part of the I-T declaration.

Reacting to the ED charge sheet, Siddaramaiah told reporters in Mysuru, "Is charity wrong? There is nothing wrong in donations."