Media queries on his properties upset Eshwarappa

 Deputy Chief Minister K S Eshwarappa, who is being investigated by the Lokayukta for allegedly owning disproportionate assets, on Saturday fumed at reporters who posed questions to him about his landed properties.

“I will buy properties at any place of my choice. I need not give you the details. Are you all Income Tax officials? I will purchase properties at another hundred places and pay appropriate taxes,” an angry Eshwarappa told reporters in Bellary after participating in district BJP workers meeting.

The Deputy Chief Minister was miffed as reporters asked him whether it was true that his son and son-in-law had purchased lands from Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board at Kuduthini village in Bellary taluk.

Eshwarappa said his relatives buying properties was their personal affair and the media need not question him about it.

Most of the newspapers, English and vernacular, had carried reports on Saturday that Eshwarappa’s son K E Kanthesh had purchased 17 acres of land from a granite company in Rajasthan. This too was a reason for him to flare up.

When reporters referred to the said deal, Eshwarappa said his son, a businessman, and his friends had purchased the property in Rajasthan at a cost of Rs 38 lakh.

“For the past three years, an individual has been collecting details of my properties
and, now he has filed a complaint against me in the Lokayukta court. I have great respect for the court. I will abide by the court’s decision,” he observed.

He said that he was aware who was behind all these “activities” and would reveal the person’s name in a couple of days.

Eshwarappa, who is also the State BJP president, said that in a week’s time action would be taken against party legislators who have identified themselves with former chief minister B S Yeddyurappa’s Karnataka Janata Party.