Yeddyurappa meets Gadkari, rubbishes opposition charges
 
New Delhi, March 10 (IANS) Karnataka Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa met Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Nitin Gadkari here Thursday, a day after the opposition charged that his sons were trading favours to make money through a trust.

Yeddyurappa reached here Thursday morning amid reports that BJP leaders had summoned him to explain the new charge against him and his two sons, one of whom, B.Y. Raghavendra, is party Lok Sabha member from Karnataka.

However, Yeddyurappa told reporters on his arrival that his visit was scheduled earlier and not connected with the charge made Wednesday here by former Karnataka chief minister and Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) leader H.D. Kumaraswamy.

Yeddyurappa said there was "nothing new in the charge". "Kumaraswamy had said the same things in Bangalore. Now he has shifted the venue to New Delhi. That is all," he added.

Kumaraswamy, now JD-S Lok Sabha member, had claimed that Raghavendra and his brother B.Y. Vijeyendra had made over Rs.27 crore from donations to a trust run by them in return for favours to a realtor and an industrialist.

Yeddyurappa said: "Everyone in Karnataka knew that the trust was being run by his sons to impart education. I have nothing to do with it and no favours have been granted to anybody in return for donations to the trust."

Raghavendra too had Wednesday dismissed the charge as "baseless".

"It (the accusation) is baseless and levelled to cover up their misdeeds," Raghavendra told IANS.

Kumaraswamy had claimed "Yeddyurappa's family made illegal gains of over Rs.27 crore through donations to the trust run by his sons".

The JD-S leader said donations were made to the trust in the last two years "in return for favours" by Yeddyurappa's sons.

Kumaraswamy said Yeddyurappa and his sons had ensured no action was taken against the real estate developer "though he had encroached tanks (water bodies)" in Bangalore.

The JD-S leader's new charge against Yeddyurappa came after a gap of several weeks.

The JD-S had taken the lead in releasing documents in October-November last year, alleging Yeddyurappa favoured his kin with prime land in and around Bangalore and indulging in large-scale denotification of government land to favour people who invested money in his sons' business ventures.

A Bangalore court is hearing five complaints of corruption and illegal land dealings against Yeddyurappa, his sons and other relatives.

The complaints were filed by two advocates in January after Governor H.R. Bhardwaj granted sanction to prosecute Yedddyurappa over the charges.

The court is yet to decide whether to take cognizance of the complaints