Bengaluru : Congress leader and former minister DK Shivakumar attacked the BJP for his confinement in Tihar jail for 50 days, saying time will teach a lesson to those responsible for his arrest. He was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate for alleged money laundering.

Shivakumar, who is on a temple-visiting spree, had travelled by the Shatabdi Express to Mysuru to avoid being mobbed by partymen in Ramanagara, Bidadi and Mandya district. He was given a rousing welcome on his arrival at the railway station and was taken in a procession to the Congress office, located some 300m away. Traffic was badly affected in the central parts of the city.

Addressing party workers, Shivakumar said he had never indulged in caste politics and also criticised chief minister BS Yediyurappa for shifting the medical college allotted to Kanakapura — his constituency — to Chikkaballapura.

“The wheel of politics must come down one day. I know how to turn the wheel,” he said. “Those who down now need not worry. The law is on my side. Day and night are natural phenomena. In the night, we cannot see our own shadow. My BJP friends, who were behind my arrest and who spoke a lot when I was arrested, must understand this reality.”

Shivakumar said he and former Union minister P Chidambaram were humiliated in the name of investigation. “We will reveal everything that happened in the course of the investigation soon,” he said.

He praised AICC president Sonia Gandhi and her predecessor Rahul Gandhi, saying they personally took care of him. “Sonia called my brother [MP DK Suresh] every day. Rahul called my brother four times a day. I am thankful for their support,” he said.