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Eshwarappa quits but Oppn keeps up heat
He submitted a one-line resignation: “On my volition, I am resigning from my minister’s post.”
Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and Karnataka’s rural development and panchayati raj minister KS Eshwarappa handed his resignation from the cabinet to Karnataka chief minister Basavaraj Bommai in Bengaluru on Friday evening, three days after protests erupted over the suicide of a contractor who alleged corruption and harassment at the hands of the minister.
He submitted a one-line resignation: “On my volition, I am resigning from my minister’s post.”
“All these allegations, I want to come out free from them. I spoke to Basavaraj Bommai and central leaders about it. I have already given my resignation as I didn’t want this issue to become an embarrassment to the government, people who helped me grow, central leaders and the workers of the party,” he said.
Eshwarappa was flanked by Bommai and other ministers as he displayed his resignation to reporters in Bengaluru. He said he had requested the CM to ensure that forces conspiring against him be brought to light.
The resignation came even as the Congress continued to mount pressure on the BJP-led government to arrest Eshwarappa for harassing the contractor, saying that the fight against corruption would continue.
Eshwarappa’s supporters shouted slogans near the CM’s residence such as “Jai Sri Ram”, “Bharat Mata Ki Jai”, and “Anyaya (injustice)”.
Eshwarappa announced on Thursday said that he would resign but was confident of coming out clean after the investigation into the suicide.
Santosh Patil, a Belagavi-based contractor, right-wing leader and BJP worker, was found dead at a hotel in Udupi on Tuesday, barely two weeks after accusing Eshwrappa of harassing him for 40% commission to release funds for around ₹4 crore worth of work done.
A day before his body was found, a suicide note was sent by Patil as a WhatsApp message to his associates and a section of the media, holding Eshwarappa responsible.
Eshwarappa said it was a “conspiracy” to bring him down politically.
In a show of strength before the resignation on Friday, the minister left Shivamogga in a convoy of 10 cars and stopped at major towns and villages along the highway where he was stopped and felicitated by supporters. The former minister also visited the Sri Siddaganga Matha, one of the holiest monasteries of the Lingayat community in Tumakuru, as well as a Ganesh temple in a convention hall.
