Congress leaders staged a sit-in protest during the last rites of contractor Santosh Patil at his hometown in Badas village of Belagavi, on Thursday. The Congress leaders refused to allow the last rites till Karnataka minister KS Eshwarappa is not arrested.
Earlier, the deceased contractor’s family had also refused to conduct his last rites, seeking Eshwarappa’s arrest. Patil, 37, was found dead in a lodge in Udupi on Tuesday. A contractor and BJP worker, Patil blamed Eshwarappa and his aides for forcing him to take the extreme step in his purported suicide note. The minister’s aides repeatedly demanded 40% commission to clear bills for a pending project, the note alleged.
The family later relented after the intervention of district administration and the police and agreed to bury him.
“As the last rites were to be performed, a group of Congress leaders arrived on the spot and started a sit-in protest. They asked the family to not perform the last rites until the minister is arrested. However, after other Congress leaders intervened, the funeral continued,” said a senior police officer, privy to the developments.
In Bengaluru, senior Karnataka Congress leaders DK Shivakumar, Siddaramaiah, Randeep Singh Surjewala and others were also detained during a protest march to lay siege on the chief minister(CM) Basavaraj Bommai’s house. After they were released from detention, they held another protest in front of the Vidhan Soudha.
{{/usCountry}}In Bengaluru, senior Karnataka Congress leaders DK Shivakumar, Siddaramaiah, Randeep Singh Surjewala and others were also detained during a protest march to lay siege on the chief minister(CM) Basavaraj Bommai’s house. After they were released from detention, they held another protest in front of the Vidhan Soudha.
{{/usCountry}}“The chief minister wants to save his corrupt minister. I think he is also a part of this whole process. If he wants to save the face of the BJP and his government, then immediately arrest (KS Eshwarappa) and book a case of corruption. We’ll continue to protest here all night,” KPCC president DK Shivakumar told the media.
Dismissing the protests held by Congress, CM Bommai on Thursday said, “The Congress doesn’t have any moral right to protest. Congress is a Gangotri of corruption. The postmortem (in the case) was done yesterday, and now a preliminary inquiry(report) will come. Based on that we’ll proceed.”
An FIR was registered against the Karnataka minister on Wednesday at Udupi town police station.
The CM said, “It is the Congress which has been saying Eshwarappa should resign. There is no (death) note but they are spreading lies that there’s a death note and then asking for resignation.” However, hours after the statement, the minister told the media that he will be submitting his resignation on Friday.