BANGALORE: Terming the alleged phone tapping of Lokayukta Justice N Santosh Hegde as a serious matter, former chief minister and Lok Sabha member N Dharam Singh has urged the state government to order a probe into the incident.Speaking to Express here on Sunday, Dharam Singh said that the allegation made by a person who is heading a Constitutional and judicial authority, can not be brushed aside. He felt that the government should order a suo moto probe into the incident by an independent authority and bring the culprits to book.Dharam disclosed that during his 20-month stint as the CM, he never ordered any phone tapping, upholding the true principles of a democracy. Predicting that mid-term elections to the state assembly seems certain, he recalled that Ramakrishna Hedge had to step down in 1988 on the alleged telephone tapping scandal and the new government formed by S R Bommai did not last long owing to intra-party rivalry in the Janata Dal.He said that the Congress in Karnataka was focusing on strengthening the party base and was ready to face elections which can happen anytime within the next three months.Strongly denying that during his stint he too abetted illegal mining, Dharam Singh said that during his time farmers from Bellary district came in a delegation and sought for iron ore extraction in their land and the government obliged them only to break the monopoly of companies engaged in mining in government land taken on lease.On the alleged indictment of several Congress, BJP and JD(S) leaders in the Lokayukta report, the former CM said it is premature to pass a comment on the leak of the report which appeared in a section of the media.
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