Revolt against Yeddy: Governor Sends Report to Delhi, Cong-JD(S) Up Ante
Gabriel Vaz
Daijiworld Media Network - Bangalore
Bangalore, Oct 5: Even as opposition Congress and JD(S) leaders were busy exposing various scams regarding denotification of prime lands in and around Bangalore by chief minister B S Yeddyurappa in favour of his son and also the bribery charge in connection with the alleged claming of compensation for ''acquisition” of government lands by housing and information minister Katta Subramanya Naidu’s son and BBMP corporator Katta Jagadish, at least 20 ruling BJP legislators including half-a-dozen ministers have raised the banner of revolt and have rushed to Chennai to plan their dissident activities.
Surprisingly, the dissidents included staunch Yeddyurappa loyalists like excise minister M P Renukacharaya and ministers like Anand Asnotikar, D Sudhakar, Balachandra Jarkiholi, B Venkataramanappa and P Narendraswamy and former minister Gulihatti Shekhar, who was dropped from the ministry during the recent cabinet expansion. Prominent among the legislators is Belur Gopalakrishna, MLA from Soraba in chief minister’s home district of Shimoga, who was a strong aspirant for ministership but was unsuccessful and Shivaraj Thangadgi, B P Harish, Sarvabowma Bagali, Y Sampagi and Nanjundaswamy.
In a parallel development, the Congress party leaders held a closed-door meeting at the residence of former union minister C M Ibrahim, in which state assembly opposition leader Siddaramaiah and several other legislators participated to take stock of the situation. Key leaders of JD(S) held their confabulations at the private apartment of former chief minister and state JD(S) president H D Kumaraswamy in the posh Sadashivanagar locality. Kumaraswamy’s elder brother and former minister H D Revanna, who is also the legislature party leader, released CD with incriminating details and other documents pertaining to alleged bribery episode involving Large and Medium Industries minister Murugesh R Nirani’s private secretary.
Governor sends reports to Delhi
Adding more spice to the murky political developments, scams involving the chief minister and the cabinet ministers, state governor Hans Raj Bhardwaj, who never loses an opportunity to tick off the Yeddyurappa regime, has sent a detailed report on the entire political developments in the state during the last week or so to the Centre. The governor has also reportedly sent a special report to President Pratibha Patil.
Given the fact that Yeddyurappa had been cornered by the opposition Congress and JD(S) leaders by releasing documentary proof regarding the denotification of land to benefit his son and Shimoga lok sabha member B Y Raghavendra as also the latter’s purchase of over 160 acres of land and not disclosing the information in his affidavit submitted to the Election Commission before contesting the Lok Sabha election, and Katta Subramanya Naidu’s son Katta Jagadish had been arrested by the Lokayukta on a charge of attempting to bribe a farmer regarding the alleged claiming of exhorbitant compensation from the government for government lands and the latter’s failure to secure bail from the court, the chief minister’s image had suffered a serious dent.
In view of the holidays on account of the Dasara celebrations, it appears that Katta Jagadish may be forced to continue his judicial confinement until next week. It remains to be seen whether the ruling BJP will muster sufficient courage to suspend Katta Jagadish as a corporator of BBMP from Vasanthnagar in the city.
The decision of nearly two dozen ruling BJP legislators to raise the banner of revolt against the chief minister at a time when the latter is at his most vulnerable and the involvement of half a dozen ministers has come as a serious blow to Yeddyurappa.
Sriramulu, Ashok negotiate with dissidents
Though it was initially thought as nothing but an attempt to pressurize the chief minister because of the involvement of Renukacharya, the fact that the subsequent developments after the mediation efforts by Home and Transport minister R Ashok, Health and Family Welfare minister B Sriramulu, Water Resources minister Basavaraj Bommai and Davangere BJP MP, G M Siddesh failed to bear fruit suggest that the chief minister might be heading for serious trouble.
The dissidents have reportedly asked the chief minister to ensure that Goolihatti Sekhar and Shivanagouda Naik, who were dropped from the cabinet recently, must be inducted again and that the party should reassure them that their future was safe in BJP. They have also demanded that Katta Subaramanya Naidu must be dropped, if the latter failed to resign on his own.
The dissidents are reported to have made it clear to the negotiators sent by the chief minister that they would not relent even if the government collapsed. Another main demand of the dissidents is a firm assurance from the party higher-ups to ensure that all the legislators who had supported the banner of revolt raised by the Bellary Reddy brothers would be given the party tickets in the next assembly elections in 2013.
Congress-JD(S) game plan
Meanwhile, political circles are agog with rumours that Congress and JD(S) are trying to forge an alliance and try for dislodging the Yeddyurappa government if the dissidents were serious about continuing their fight to the logical end.
The chief minister, however, appeared to be very confident and claimed that the dissidence was not serious. ''They will return by tonight. Everything will be resolved. Just wait and see. I have successfully overcome several tests of fire in the past and will do so in this Agnipariksha as well,” he asserted.
There are rumours that Congress and JD(S) are planning to support the dissidents and pull down the Yeddyurappa regime and if possible try for a coalition government or force a mid-term poll to fight the elections together.
Surprisingly, the Bellary Reddy Brothers, who had remained silent after the recent furore over the illegal mining and the various steps taken by the Yeddyurappa regime and the Centre, have rushed their confidant B Sriramulu to try and patch up the differences. Infrastructure and Tourism minister G Janardhana Reddy enigmatically claimed that, ''All those who eat salt must drink water. We have no role to play. Let us see how things develop.”
''Sriramulu is our hero and Bellary’s most acclaimed leader. He will solve the problems facing the government," Janardhana Reddy told reporters in Bellary.
Emergency cabinet meeting
Yeddyurappa, who had organized a cabinet meeting at Gulbarga on Monday (October 4), has convened an emergency cabinet meeting on Wednesday (October 6) morning at 10 am.
Sriramulu, who has been negotiating with the dissident legislators and ministers in Chennai, has indicated that the six to seven ministers were unlikely to attend tomorrow’s cabinet meeting suggesting that Yeddyurappa’s troubles were quite serious. ''We are still holding discussions, which will be continued through the night and tomorrow also, if necessary,” Sriramulu declining to indicate the trend.
Outside CM's Residence
State BJP president K S Eshwarappa convened a meeting of state party leaders at the party office late in the night, which was also attended by the chief minister, indicating that the troubles facing the government were far more serious than initially assumed. Eshwarappa, however, claimed that there was no dissidence in the party. ''It is just rumours. Don’t believe such things. Our party is totally united and there is no threat of instability,” he contended.
Adding grist to the speculation in political circles is the entry to BJP national general secretary Ananth Kumar, who had been sidelined during the recent cabinet reshuffle, in the meeting held at the state BJP office.
''I have sent a report to the Centre and also the President on the controversies regarding the KIADB scam. I have informed the Central government about it and submitted a report to President Pratibha Patil, a copy of which has also gone to Prime minister Manmohan Singh," the governor told reporters, explaining that it was part of his duty.
Bhardwaj said he had not received any official reports from the government so far regarding the KIADB land acquisition scam. "I came to know about it (scam) through media reports. I sought information from the secretariat about it. On the basis of the information furnished by the state secretariat and the media reports, I have submitted a special report," he said on the sidelines of the 56th Wild Life Week Celebrations.
The governor mentioned that he had included details of Lokayukta Justice N Santhosh Hegde’s findings regarding the arrests made and other details.
'Ali Baba and 40 Thieves'
Meanwhile, Congress leader Siddaramaiah made it clear that his party was not interested in toppling the Yeddyurappa regime as the government would definitely not last long. He termed Yeddyurappa a "liar" and "irresponsible" and likened his Cabinet to "Ali Baba and 40 thieves", in the context of land scam allegations against the government.
"If the chief minister has an iota of respect, he should quit immediately," Siddaramaiah said.
He declared that the Congress party would stick to its planned programme of staging a protest against the Yeddyurappa regime and dismissal of Katta Subramanya Naidu. ''We are not interested in destabilizing the government when it is crystal clear that the government will fall on its own,” he said.
Bribery charge against Murugesh Nirani
In an interesting development, which added more spice to the political developments, JD(S) leader Revanna released a CD containing conversation of what he claimed to be Large and Medium Industries minister Murugesh R Nirani collecting bribe through his personal assistant (PA) Umesh from an industrialist for allotment of land by the state Industrial Areas Development Board in and around Bangalore to set up a industry.
Revanna released the CD at a press conference here and alleged Nirani of collecting bribe through his PA for allotment of lands for industrial projects in and around Bangalore.
The CD contained conversation between Umesh, the industrialist and the minister at Mr. Nirani’s official bungalow. Though pictures of conversation in the CD was not clear about seeking bribe by the minister’s PA from the industrialist, Revanna said: ''this is a clear case of the minister indulging in corruption in allotment of lands by the KIADB.”
He would expose BJP government’s involvement in corruption by releasing more CDs in the coming days, Revanna claimed.
Nirani refutes charges
A Kannada version of a note on conversation given by Revanna stated that Umesh, on behalf of Nirani, quoting prices for lands in Harohalli, Dobbaspet and other areas, stated: “The government rate in Harohalli is Rs. 60 lakh per acre, Dobbaspet Rs 57 lakh. Give us Rs. 20 lakh per acre in Harohalli and Rs. 12 lakh per acre in Dobbaspet.”
Asked about when the CD was recorded, the JD (S) leader declined to give details and claimed that “it has provided clinching evidence of the involvement of the minister in the land scam.”
He demanded resignation of the chief minister and Nirani.
A probe by the CBI or the sitting judge of the state High Court would reveal ministers’ involvement in corruption and land scams, Revanna said expressing doubts on the seriousness about a special legislature session called in November to debate land scams and said such sessions would not serve any purpose.
Nirani, however, denied all charges made against him and claimed that they were baseless and politically motivated. He termed the CD as “bogus” and the intention was to tarnish his political image in the BJP and the government.