BENGALURU: BJP leaders in Karnataka met Governor Vajubhai Vala on Monday to submit a memorandum against the charges filed by the Anti-Corruption Bureau against former chief minister B S Yeddyurappa.
In the memorandum, the BJP said there has been foisting of false cases against opposition leaders, tapping of phones, false complaints made by the ACB and through motivated RTIs, and that there has been no proper attempt made to control those who had killed activists of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) in the state.
The memorandum names Kempaiah, Political Advisor to the Home Minister and ACB head, M N Reddi as being involved in this.
After meeting the Governor, union minister Ananth Kumar said, “There is an attempt being made to malign Yeddyurappaji and the BJP. Particularly using the ACB which has usurped the powers of the Lokayukta in the state.”
In two FIRs filed last week the Anti-Corruption Bureau, which is headed by Chief Ministry Siddaramaiah, had named Mr Yeddyurappa, in a land denotification issue.
The ACB has alleged that as chief minister, Mr Yeddyurappa was party to the denotification of land in north Bengaluru that was meant to be part of a Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) suburb called the Shivaram Karanth layout. The land was then allegedly sold at a much higher price to private parties which was said to have deprived the state government of revenue. It is said that up to 257 acres were involved in the land deals near Yelahanka.
But the BJP has alleged that the move is politically motivated. The BJP points out how another accused in the FIRs, the then Special Land Acquisition Officer of the BDA, H. Basavarajendra, said he had been pressurised by ACB investigators to blame Mr Yeddyurappa of wrong-doing and that he was named as an accused because he refused to do so.
Earlier, the Congress had said that the timing of IT raids on Congress minister, D K Shivakumar, was politically motivated – he was looking after Congress MLAs from Gujarat brought to Bengaluru ahead of Rajya Sabha voting at the time. In turn, the BJP in Karnataka questions the timing of these FIRs against Mr Yeddyurappa which were filed just ahead of a protest led by him targeting allegedly corrupt ministers in the Congress government.
Mr Yeddyurappa himself had to step down as the BJP’s first chief minister in South India following charges of corruption. The investigation against D K Shivakumar is still in progress.
