JOIN USAs news broke out bail being granted to Yeddyurappa, the first ever former chief minister to be jailed on corruption charges, BJP workers - with placards and banners in their hands - started gathering outside the jail in large numbers. They sent out a loud message that their leader was now set to walk free after remaining in judicial custody for 24 days.
There was as much jubilation inside the jail as outside. Jail birds greeted the BJP leader and gave him a ‘send off’. They also submitted a memorandum to him seeking that 120 prisoners with good conduct be freed.
The upbeat mood outsidethe prison could be gauged from the fact that street vendors selling eatables had put up photographs of Yeddyurappa to attract the BJP workers.
Sources said Yeddyurappa’s son-in-law Sohan Kumar and close aide Siddalingaswamy were the first to reach the jail and convey to him the good news. Though the bail order came in the morning, formalities at the jail took at least eight hours for the leader to walk free.
Ministers Murugesh Nirani and Renukacharya and MLAs Satish Reddy, Nandish Reddy, M Srinivas, Halappa and Lehar Singh Siroya reached the Central Jail, along with a large number of their followers, to greet the former chief minister.
A stampede-like situation was witnessed the moment Yeddyurappa came out of the jail and appeared before his supporters and the media, who were anxiously waiting for his arrival since morning.
Yeddyurappa told reporters: “The court which remanded me in judicial custody has granted me freedom. I have high regards for the judiciary. If I am a free man, it is because of the blessings of the people of Karnataka. I am grateful to those who did not celebrate Deepavali in my absence.”