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Eshwarappa shares picture with seers in bid to show strength
The delegation of seers from Chitradurga was seen felicitating the embattled former Karnataka minister Eshwarappa who faces accusations of corruption and abetting the alleged suicide of Santosh Patil, a Belagavi-based contractor.
KS Eshwarappa, the former minister and senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader, on Saturday shared a picture with him surrounded by influential seers who represent several backward classes in Karnataka almost as a show of strength to his detractors.
The delegation of seers from Chitradurga was seen felicitating the embattled former minister who faces accusations of corruption and abetting the alleged suicide of Santosh Patil, a Belagavi-based contractor.
“People would call me and cry. I had my doubts if people loved me. Now it has been confirmed,” Eshwarappa is seen laughing and sharing with the seers.
Eshwarappa had come to Bengaluru in a huge convoy of cars from Shivamogga and was felicitated by his supporters at every major town and village en route the highway.
His supporters had also gathered near chief minister Basavaraj Bommai’s home in Bengaluru, raising slogans like a resignation was not needed and against Congress leaders who are demanding the arrest of the senior BJP leader who had served as Rural Development and Panchayat Raj (RDPR) minister in the BJP government.
The 73-year-old influential leader’s resignation came after days of pressure from both the Opposition and within the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Eshwarappa, the minister for rural development and panchayat raj, has repeatedly said that he never met the contractor, Santosh Patil, who was found dead in a Udupi hotel on Tuesday.
“He (Patil) had made a complaint in Delhi and spoke to TV channels which I saw. He said that he had done work and asked me for payments and that I wasn’t giving it. I asked a straight question if he has the work order. He said he doesn’t have a work order but still I was asking him for 40% commission,” Eshwarappa is heard telling the seers. He added that a defamation case was filed on the same day and a notice was served to the TV channel that aired the news and Patil.
Eshwarappa has exuded confidence that he will return to the cabinet within a month and a half as the investigation would clear his name and bring to the fore the “conspirators” who have tried to frame him and engineer his downfall.
