Yeddy’s Cabinet Minister Accused of `Molesting’ Friend’s Wife in Shimoga
by Gabriel Vaz
Daijiworld Media Network

• Minister Halappa denies but 'quits' to protect the government’s image

BANGALORE, MAY 2: An influential minister in BJP chief minister B S Yeddyurappa’s cabinet from his home district of Shimoga attempted to sexually molest the wife of his close friend in the latter’s house in Shimoga, recently.

With the report of the alleged incident being flashed as a banner headline in the front page of a leading Kannada daily (Vijaya Karnataka) on Sunday, speculation is rife in political circles that the minister may be forced to quit.

Though the Kannada daily has not named the minister, except mentioning the fact that the minister hails from Shimoga district and used to frequently visit the district, food and civil supplies minister Haratal Halappa has come out in the open and convened a news conference at his residence in Basaveshwaranagar near Vijayanagar in the city to clarify his position in view of the allegations and innuendo against him.

 ``All these allegations are baseless. I will explain the situation during the press conference at my residence,”  the minister told Kannada television channels early in the morning.

 The minister Haratal Halappa, at his news conference, has announced that he has voluntarily decided to tender his resignation and has already faxed his resignation letter to the Chief Minister in order to ensure that the government’s image is not tarnished. ``This is a political conspiracy to tarnish mine and government’s image,” he said.

 ``I spoke to the chief minister and K S Eshwarappa  (State BJP president, who also belongs to Shimoga) soon after reading the newspaper report.  As the chief minister is touring outside the state (in Ahmedabad), I spoke to him on the phone and also to Eshwarappa. I have decided to resign voluntarily to ensure that the party and government’s image is not harmed,” he declared.

 Speculation is rife that the alleged incident happened nearly four months ago. The friend is believed to be a leading financier residing in Vinobhanagar locality.

 The minister, according to the exclusive report published in the Kannada daily on its front page, had reportedly 'invited himself' for dinner at the residence of his close friend in Shimoga. The friend was reportedly highly pleased that a cabinet minister was attending dinner at his residence and had organized a lavish spread. After the dinner, the minister reportedly asked his friend that he will stay in the spare bedroom on the first floor of his residence, which was immediately consented to as the friend considered it a rare honour to be a host to him.

However, the minister reportedly raised an alarm in the middle of the night forcing the friend and his family to rush to his bedroom. The minister reportedly complained of chest pain and informed the friend that he had serious health problem, including hypertension, and wanted the minister to immediately rush to the Inspection Bungalow and get his medicines from his security gunman.

Scared of his reputation and worried that if something untoward happened to the minister when he was resting in his house, the friend immediately rushed to the inspection bungalow to get the medicines. But when the friend rushed to the inspection bungalow, he could not find the security gunmen and returned home to admit the minister in a hospital for treatment.

When the friend returned home, he was shocked to find the minister in a semi-nude position and his wife crying. Upon learning from his wife that the minister had allegedly tried to sexually molest his wife, an enraged friend reportedly thrashed the minister forcing the latter to flee for his safety.

Even as Halappa convened an emergency news conference at his residence early on Sunday morning, Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee president R V Deshpande has strongly condemned the incident and demanded the resignation of not just the accused minister but the Chief Minister himself.

The former opposition leader in the legislative council V S Ugrappa has also demanded the resignation of the minister and the chief minister.