Karnataka chief minister B.S. Yeddyurappa arrived in New Delhi in a defiant mood on Wednesday night on being summoned by the BJP high command after he was indicted and action recommended against him under the Prevention of Corruption Act by state Lokayukta N. Santosh Hegde in his second report on illegal mining in Karnataka.
Mr Yeddyurappa apparently refused to toe the party line and quit his post when the BJP top brass indicated to the chief minister that he must step down. Mr Yeddyurappa, who landed in New Delhi at around 11.15 pm and then drove straight to BJP president Nitin Gadkari’s residence, told the media at the airport that he was in no mood to resign. “Why should I resign? Don’t presume anything,” he said when asked whether he would quit.
The meeting at Mr Nitin Gadkari’s residence was attended by the party top brass, including Mr Arun Jaitley, Mr Rajnath Singh, Mr M. Venkaiah Naidu and Karnataka BJP leaders Jagdish Shettar and K.S. Eshwarappa. The leaders made it clear that Mr Yeddyurappa should submit his resignation in Bengalurlu on Thursday. The BJP leadership, which is gearing up to take on the UPA government on corruption-related issues in the forthcoming Monsoon Session of Parliament, feels its campaign will “lose its moral edge” if Mr Yeddyurappa continues in office.
The Lokayukta Mining Report 2, officially submitted by the Karnataka Lokayukta to the government on Wednesday, recommends the prosecution of chief minister B.S. Yeddyurappa under the Prevention of Corruption Act, marking what many say could be the end of Mr Yeddyurappa’s tenure as the first BJP CM of Karnataka.
A copy of the report was later sent to the governor, “the only competent authority to take action against the chief minister”, Justice Hegde acknowledged at a press briefing where he officially revealed that the report names CM Yeddyurappa, his Cabinet colleagues, including the mining czars, the once powerful Reddy brothers, health minister Sriramulu, housing minister V. Somanna, former CM and JD(S) leader H.D. Kumaraswamy, Congress politician Anil Lad and Bellary-based BJP MLA Nagendra.
Mr Yeddyurappa is the first ever CM of Karnataka to be indicted by the Lokayukta under the provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act and against whom prosecution has been recommended.
Reacting to his indictment, Mr Yeddyurappa tried to put up a brave front by saying that “the contents in the report are not new” and that the report would be discussed at a specially-convened Cabinet session on Thursday.
Speaking to reporters here on Wednesday before he left for New Delhi to meet the party high command where he is expected to be asked for an explanation, and may even be asked to resign, Mr Yeddyurappa said all issues have been raised earlier and were pending before various courts.
“The report is voluminous, containing 31 chapters, which runs into several hundred pages. So it will take considerable time to study the report,” the CM said. However, he refused to take a question on the Lokayukta recommending that the governor prosecute him under the Prevention of Corruption Act. “The contents of the reports appear to be so many old issues on mining, which have been repeated. I am leaving for Delhi to meet the party high command and bring all this to the notice of party senior leaders,” said an unmoved Mr Yeddyurappa.
Core committee members D.V. Sadananda Gowda, Santhosh, V. Sathish, M.P. Kumar, Jagadish Shettar, party president K.S. Eshwarappa and Mr Yeddyurappa left for New Delhi Wednesday evening to meet party senior leaders even as a top level source close to senior party leader Ananth Kumar made clear that the party general secretary had thrown his hat into the ring for the post of CM. Mr Kumar reportedly made his intentions clear when he met senior party leaders last Sunday. Mr Kumar, a long-time critic of Mr Yeddyurappa and a Brahmin, seemed to have tried to drum up support among Lingayat leaders for his candidacy.
Along with Mr Kumar, the names of party state unit president K.S. Eshwarappa and rural development and panchayat raj minister Jagadish Shettar are doing the rounds. Party sources said if Mr Yeddyurappa was given a chance to select his successor, he may choose Dr V.S. Acharya. Sources, however, said this would depend on whether BSY would willingly comply with the BJP’s diktat.
Justice Hegde, detailing the charges, said, “There is sufficient evidence to show that the CM’s family received donations from a mining company for reasons other than genuine reasons. South West Mining Company of Jindal group donated `10 crore to the trust owned by the CM’s sons and also bought an acre of land in Rachenahalli for an abnormal amount of `20 crore.”
“The transaction is through cheques and at this time a file for the approval of the application of this company is waiting to be forwarded to the Centre. Now, I find it extremely difficult to understand the act of buying an acre of land for which the guidance value would not have been more than `1.45 crore and then receive a donation also,” Justice Hedge said.
He said there were several discrepancies in the sale and purchase of land besides an abnormally high sale price. The Lokayukta announced after the report was submitted to the state government that a copy was sent to Raj Bhavan. “Under Lokayukta Act, if any action has to be taken against the chief minister, it should be the governor. I hope the governor will take appropriate action. The governor is the competent authority to take action against a chief minister,” Justice Hedge said.
On the report indicting the Reddy brothers and their acolyte, Sriramulu, Justice Hegde said that contrary to the Reddy brothers’ repeated claims that they were never involved in mining in Karnataka, the report has given ample evidence that they not only carried out illegal mining but also collected “hafta” from other miners.
The report of 25,228 pages was prepared by officials, including U.V. Singh, Biswajeet Mishra and Bipin Singh, by examining over four lakh records and collating 50 lakh entries, Said Mr Hegde: “Out of the 25,228 pages, 543 pages are mine.”
In New Delhi, sources disclosed that a major section within the BJP central leadership is of the view that if Mr Yeddyurappa is not removed, it will dent its fight against the UPA on the issues of corruption and governance. At the same time, the party is also aware that it can’t force Mr Yeddyurappa to quit as he happens to be the only bankable Lingayat leader with the BJP in the state.