Opposition stalls assembly over Yeddyurappa son's trust

Bangalore, March 15, (IANS): The Karnataka assembly was rocked for the second day Tuesday over the opposition demand for a CBI probe into affairs of a trust run by Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa's sons. 

Congress and Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) members gathered near the speaker's table and said they would not budge from there until their demand for a probe into the trust by the Central Bureau of Investigation was accepted.

"We will stage a 'dharna' (sit-in) here," the members shouted as they left their seats to assemble near the speaker's table. Their action followed Law Minister S. Suresh Kumar's categorical rejection earlier of the demand.

"We will not hand over the probe to CBI. We consider it as Congress Bureau of Investigation. It traps innocent and lets off the guilty," Suresh Kumar asserted. "Our party's (Bharatiya Janata Party) stand (on CBI probes) is known," he added.

The stand-off between the ruling and opposition members prompted the speaker to repeatedly adjourn the house. The trust issue figured in the state legislative council also where Yeddyurappa told Congress and JD-S members that their "effort to malign me with baseless allegations will not succeed".

The demand for a CBI probe into the affairs of Prerana Educational and Social Trust also created a ruckus in the assembly Monday. The trust is based in the chief minister's home district of Shimoga, about 280 km from Bangalore.

The Congress and JD-S allege that Yeddyurappa and his two sons have made over Rs.27 crore in the last two years through the trust by doling out favours to people making donations to it.

Yeddyurappa's sons, B.Y. Raghavendra and B.Y. Vijayendra, are among the trustees of Prerana. The trust runs schools and colleges in Shimoga. Raghavendra is a BJP Lok Sabha member from Shimoga.

Both Yeddyurappa and Raghavendra have denied that donors to the trust were being favoured in any manner. Yeddyurappa has also said that he had nothing to do with the trust.