'Will quit politics if kickback charge proved wrong'

 State BJP president B S Yeddyurappa on Monday said he would retire from politics if his Rs 150-crore kickback charge against Chief Minister Siddaramaiah was proved wrong.

At the same time, Yeddyurappa challenged Siddaramaiah whether he was ready to quit as chief minister and retire from politics if his (Yeddyurappa) charges were proved correct.

Yeddyurappa was speaking to reporters after felicitating the members of the Indian team which won the T20 World Cup for the Blind at his Dollar’s Colony residence.He said he stood by his statement that Siddaramaiah had paid the Congress high command Rs 1,000 cr to stay in power. He reiterated his charge that Siddaramaiah had sought Rs 150 cr for sanctioning the steel flyover project in Bengaluru.

Statewide rally

The BJP core committee on Monday decided to launch a statewide agitation against the state government to expose “its corrupt activities”.  Two mammoth rallies will be held in Bengaluru and Belagavi.

Conversation tampered with: Ananth

Later in the day, Yeddyurappa and Ananth Kumar accused the Congress  of “tampering” with a conversation between them recorded on a CD, to suit its political needs. The duo told reporters that Congress was unable to withstand the impact of the revelations made and hence, was resorting to cheap tactics to save its face.

Kumar said Siddaramaiah had told him recently that they too had given funds to the high command.  The Union minister said he had told Yeddyurappa about the conversation between him and Siddaramaiah on Sunday. “The Congress has edited our conversation to suit its needs,” Kumar said.