By N B Hombal

Dharwad, Nov 5 (IANS): Mallamma, the widow of slain BJP member Yogeeshgouda Goudar, said on Thursday that she was neither "happy" nor "sad" about the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) questioning former Congress leader Vinay Kulkarni in connection with the murder of her husband.

She continued to obliquely attack BJP leaders -- Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Prahalad Joshi and Industries Minister Jagadish Shettar -- for ruining her life by making her contest elections soon after her husband was murdered.

Speaking to reporters here, Mallamma said that she wants that the truth should come out. "Common people like us are easily made fools by the politicians. Common man is like a toy in their hand. They play with the toy, just throw it away and forget about it. Therefore, one should never listen to any politician. They will just ruin your life," she said without naming anyone.

She added that she had seen both the Congress and the BJP leaders from very close quarters, for a common man it appears that they are fighting for our cause. "...in reality top leaders from both the parties will be often exchanging secrets only to dump you halfway. Therefore, I am neither happy nor sad about Kulkarni being taken for questioning," she said.

She clarified that she had not succumbed to pressure from anyone to join the Congress in 2017. "Then also, I said the same thing, now also I am sticking to my stand. I was harassed by my parents-in-law and brother-in-law Gurunathgouda Goudar. I will never pardon them," she said.

According to her, when her husband was murdered they forcibly made her contest and even pledged her farmland for Rs 30 lakh.

"I have borne three girls from this marriage. How will I survive, when I sought help from the BJP leaders (Shettar and Joshi) they did not even respond to my calls. I had to look after my children, therefore, I joined Congress, when everyone turned away from me and used my slain husband's name only to brighten their political future," she said angrily.

Mallamma added that she wants to lead a peaceful life and wishes to continue her husband's work by contesting on a Congress ticket.

"I did not join on behalf of Kulkarni, but my in-laws troubled me so much that I had to join Congress and ensure my children's safety. None of the BJP leaders helped my children to get admissions. Under such circumstances, what am I supposed to do," she said.

Her brother-in-law Gurunathgouda Goudar charged that she was talking on behalf of the Congress leaders as she has severed every kind of relationship with us, it has become our battle now and not hers.

According to insiders, the family tussle grew when both Gurunathgouda and Mallamma started eyeing the vacant seat, which was represented by Yogeeshgouda prior to his murder.

As the gritty widow fought with everyone in the family to fight her own election, her in-laws did not support her. "Despite these odds, she pledged her land for Rs 30 lakh, and contested but due to infighting within her own family, she lost elections as she failed to garner sympathy votes. This left her in the lurch and she made up her mind to join Congress in December 2017, when the BJP leaders had made her husband's murder an election issue," the source explained.

Her entry into the Congress was also full of drama, and the BJP had launched a statewide campaign stating that Mallamma had been kidnapped by the Kulkarni brothers. She, however, surfaced after a week-long drama in Almatti, where the then Chief Minister Siddarmaiah had gone for a programme. She publicly asked him to induct her into the party. He suggested that she meet then Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee women wing president, Lakshmi Hebbalkar.

Two days later she joined the Congress in Belagavi in the presence of Hebbalkar and straightaway filed a formal complaint against her in-laws with the Karnataka Women's Commission. Since then she had been leading a low profile life in Dharwad.

Yogeeshgouda Goudar, then a zilla panchayat member from the BJP, was hacked to death by a group of five to six men, reportedly over a property dispute, at his own gym in Saptapur, Dharwad in June, 2016.

After almost over a year after the murder of Yogeeshgouda, his elder brother Gurunathgouda from June 2017 onwards started making allegations against top police officials and Vinay Kulkarni, who was the then Mines and Geology Minister in the Congress-led government in the state.

The Congress government didn't entertain the repeated demand of the family for a CBI probe into the matter. But, in 2019, the ruling BJP handed over the case to the CBI. Since then, the CBI has examined police officers, Gurunathgouda, Mallamma and others. This is the first time, a former minister has been summoned by the CBI and after a daylong grilling, the CBI took him into the custody.

A audio recording of Kulkarni's alleged conversation laced with threats on the telephone with the advocate representing the BJP leader's family in the case also went viral.