BJP throws its weight behind GJR

The BJP, in fact, came out in strong support of Reddy saying he had done no wrong and that he was being made a scapegoat and that it was all a “political conspiracy”.

Even former chief minister B S Yeddyurappa, who had on the floor of the House rued about the State’s natural resources being “looted” due to illegal mining, is now back to saying Reddy is innocent.   

Condemning Reddy’s arrest, State BJP president K S Eshwarappa accused CBI of being the Centre’s “puppet”. He went on to say that the Reddy brothers were the ones who brought BJP to power in Karnataka and that they were instrumental in garnering support of the independent MLAs during the formation of the government.

“In an attempt to cover up its various scams, the UPA has been using the Central investigating agency to target states ruled by Opposition parties. Even during the investigation of the 2G spectrum case, the BJP leaders were unnecessarily questioned, while leaders like Dayanidhi Maran and P Chidambaram were let off the hook.”

He said the Congress had collapsed entirely in Bellary district and because of its political inadequacies, it had made Reddy a scapegoat. “Congress’ political conspiracy will backfire and Reddy will soon be proved innocent,” he said.

Given the love-hate relationship between Yeddyurappa and Reddy, it was not much of a surprise when Yeddyurappa came out in support of the former tourism minister.

“Janardhana Reddy is innocent, he has not committed any crime. He will come out of the shadow of these allegations and prove himself an innocent. If CBI probe were to be ordered by the State government, then there is every possibility that the Centre will begin to wield its political influence over Karnataka. It could very well misuse the move. Hence, the State hasn’t ordered a CBI probe,” added Yeddyurappa.
Home and Transport Minister R Ashok said: “Whoever is against the Congress is nailed by the CBI”.
Giving the example of Jaganmohan Reddy, the Minister said till Y S Rajashekhara Reddy and Jaganmohan Reddy were in the Congress, they were “clean”. The moment Jaganmohan came out of the Congress, he became a “tainted” figure, who according to the CBI has amassed wealth worth more than Rs 500 crore.

The Minister said: “Congress considered Anna Hazare its opponent and started targeting Team Anna. Kiran Bedi and Arvind Kejriwal are now in the CBI radar.”

He said Janardhana Reddy’s arrest was only a reflection of the vindictive policies of the Congress.