JOIN USThe Reddy brothers of Karnataka, under attack over allegations of illegal mining, held talks here on Sunday with Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) central leaders in the wake of demands by the governor and opposition parties for their resignation.
Ministers Janardhana Reddy and Karunakara Reddy met Yeddyurappa and BJP central leaders including party president Nitin Gadkari, BJP sources told IANS.
The two state ministers may address the media later in the day, party sources indicated.
Janardhana Reddy, Karnataka tourism minister, told the media that they will counter the "false propaganda launched by the Congress party". "I am ready to resign if any of the allegations are proved," he told reporters.
The allegations against the Reddy brothers have become a thorny issue for the BJP since Karnataka Governor H.R. Bharadwaj last week asked Yeddyurappa to drop the "corrupt ministers". Bharadwaj had met President Pratibha Patil as the opposition members in the Karnataka assembly - Congress and Janata Dal-Secular MLAs - held a dharna in the house pressing for a CBI probe into the illegal mining.
Central leaders of the BJP, led by National Democratic Alliance parliamentary board chief L.K. Advani, reviewed the situation with Yeddyurappa and other state leaders in Delhi Saturday. "The party is in a tricky situation of trying to safeguard its image while not succumbing to the opposition pressure to drop the Reddy brothers from the ministry, the first ever BJP government in south India," a central leader who did not want to be identified told IANS.