Eshwarappa gives Renuka a mouthful
Cutting Excise Minister M P Renukacharya down to size, BJP State president K S Eshwarappa has asked him to ''shut up'' and stop influencing Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa negatively.
Yeddyurappa may have finally conceded to resign from the chief minister’s post at 1 pm on Sunday. But, before he could make this apparent, Renukacharya, who has taken on the role of Yeddyurappa’s spokesperson in the last three days, announced that he would file a defamation suit against Lokayukta Justice Santosh Hegde, for falsely indicting his “leader”.
On Saturday morning, after Yeddyurappa’s failed discussions with central leaders Arun Jaitley, Rajnath Singh and Dharmendra Pradhan, Renukacharya told reporters gathered in front of Yeddyurappa’s official residence on Race Course Road, that Hegde had not been impartial in preparing the report.
“Hegde did not prepare the report in his office. Instead, it was prepared at the residences of S M Krishna and Deve Gowda. I strongly suspect that Hegde has political ambitions and hence he has indulged in this political conspiracy, in which only my leader (Yeddyurappa) has been targeted. In a week’s time, I will release important documents related to the involvement of the Congress and the JD(S) in illegal mining. I will also consult legal experts and file a defamation case against Hegde next week,” he said, adding that he would back Yeddyurappa whatever his decision maybe.
Reacting sharply to Renukacharya’s statements, Eshwarappa called him juvenile and immature. He also did not spare Housing Minister V Sommana, who has been strongly campaigning for Yeddyurappa.
“Somanna and Renukacharya should keep their mouths shut. It is childish people like them who negatively influence Yeddyurappa against stepping down. By making foolish statements, they have established that they neither respect the BJP Parliamentary Board nor give any credence to the Lokayukta. Yeddyurappa has made it very evident that he will resign, and I am most certain he will do so. These legislators are unnecessarily influencing.”
Eshwarappa said his party had immense respect for the Lokayukta institution and that since Hegde had indicted Yeddyurappa, the party had directed Yeddyurappa to resign from his post. “I will call them (Renukacharya and Somanna). It is unfortunate that they don’t understand the importance of the Lokayukta institution,” he said.
Eshwarappa reiterated that if Yeddyurappa wanted to fight the Lokayukta report in court, his party would support him. “If he is proved innocent, we will reconsider his position,” he said.
