Illegal Mining Report: BJP High Command to Oust Yeddyurappa?
Daijiworld Media Network
Update: 4.10 pm
Bangalore, Jul 27: The explosive report on illegal mining by the Lokayukta has been submitted to the chief secretary of the Karnataka government. The report was submitted at 4 pm on Wednesday July 27 by Lokayukta registrar Moosa Kunhi Nayar Moole to chief secretary S V Ranganath.
Sources said that both chief minister Yeddyurappa and JD(S) state chief Kumaraswamy have indeed been indicted. Yeddyurappa has been charged on two accounts, it is learnt, with not just him but also his family being allegedly benefited from illegal mining.
The 10,000-page report has about 450 pages on just recommendations on actions to be taken against those named in illegal mining scam, sources said.
Justice Hegde will address the press at 4.30 pm and is expected to give more details on the report.
As time neared for the submission of the all-important Lokayukta report on illegal mining in the state, the noose around chief minister B S Yeddyurappa seemed to be tightening.
Sources said that the BJP high command is in no mood to continue with their problem child Yeddyurappa if the report indicts him. BJP national president Nitin Gadkari has reportedly said that Yeddyurappa could not expect leniency this time.
Meanwhile, Yeddurappa in a last-ditch effort to save his chair has sent his loyalist Lehar Singh to meet the BJP high command to plead for his continuance. The BJP is expected to convene a meeting soon to decide on its further course of action depending on what the mining report says. Sources said that the name of Jagadish Shettar is making the rounds as a possible successor to Yeddyurappa.
The BJP high command has reportedly summoned its core committee from the state to New Delhi and Yeddyurappa, Dhananjay Kumar and Eshwarappa are likely to leave for the national capital later in the day. Also, a meeting of top BJP leaders will be held at L K Advani's residence in New Delhi at 5.30 pm on July 27.
Though media reports have been claiming that the chief minister has been indicted in the report and Lokayukta Justice Santosh Hegde has made no statement to contradict the claims, the chief minister expressed hope that the report does not directly indict him.
Yeddyurappa began his morning with prayers at Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh. "I am not resigning. My party high command has not asked for it," he said on returning from Tirupati.
Yeddyurappa also said he had prayed for many things at the temple.
Yeddyurappy expressed confidence that his ministers and the party are with him and said the BJP high command has not asked him to resign yet. It is only the opposition Congress and JD(S) that are pushing for his resignation, he said. "I am 100 percent confident as I have not done any mistake," he said.
In a defiant mood, Yeddyurappa said that he was the first chief minister to take action against illegal mining in the state and should be awarded rather than punished for it. He further added that he would continue as the CM for the next two years, and that there will not be any mid-term polls.
Ahead of the submission of the report, sources said that the report indicts former CM and present state JD(S) chief H D Kumaraswamy, Congress Rajya Sabha MP Anil Lad, the Reddy brothers and other three ministers, apart from another 500 officials.
Justice Hegde has reportedly recommended prosecution of Yeddyurappa and others named in the report. He has also asked that the loss incurred due to illegal mining in the state, which amounts to Rs 1,800 crore in last 14 months, be recovered from the Reddy brothers.
The state government will be given three months time according to the Lokayukta Act to act on the report. However, Justice Hegde earlier said that the government may not act on the report, but hoped that the Supreme Court would take appropriate action.
Meanwhile, security has been tightened at the Lokayukta office and a team headed by ACP Devraj will be escorting the Lokayukta registrar, reports said.