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‘Too little, too late’: Congress unhappy with Eshwarappa's call to quit, demands his arrest
Karnataka minister KS Eshwarappa is facing charges of abetment of suicide in the case of right-wing leader and contractor Santosh K Patil, who alleged in a Whatsapp message that the former is directly responsible for his death.
Congress general secretary Randeep Surjewala said on Thursday that Karnataka minister KS Eshwarappa's resignation from the state cabinet amid row over contractor's suicide is “too little, too late”, and called for him to be arrested. Eshwarappa said earlier in the day that he will step down on Friday, claiming he does not want to “embarrass" his camp the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) that rules Karnataka and its leaders.
The minister is facing charges of abetment of suicide in the case of Santosh K Patil - a right-wing leader and a contractor, who was found dead in an Udupi hotel on Tuesday morning. In a Whatsapp message on Monday night, which he shared with his associates and some sections of the media, Patil alleged that Eshwarappa is directly responsible for his death.
“Minister Eshwarappa’s belated resignation is too little, too late. Eshwarappa has to be arrested. S. 13 of Prevention of Corruption Act must be added to the FIR. High Court monitored SIT must investigate & file challan. Independent probe of 40% Commission Bommai Govt!” Surjewala tweeted.
Earlier also, Patil had said that Eshwarappa was seeking 40 per cent commission to make payments for a job undertaken by the former in February last year.
Earlier today, former Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah, Surjewala, Karnataka Congress chief DK Shivakumar, and other top state Congress leaders were arrested for staging a protest demanding the removal of Eshwarappa from the state government.
Hundreds of Congress workers took to streets for the march and demanded the arrest of the state minister under the Prevention of Corruption Act. They tried to break the police barricade, and were detained initially. When they were en route to Karnataka chief minister Basavaraj Bommai's residence in Bengaluru to stage a larger-scale agitation, police placed them under arrest.
Hundreds of Congress workers led by Siddaramaiah, Shivakumar and Surjewala took out a march in Bengaluru demanding the arrest of the minister and seeking a case against him under the Prevention of Corruption Act.
The Congress leaders and workers tried to break the police barricade. To stop them, police took them into preventive custody. They were first detained and later placed under arrest on the way to Karnataka CM Basavaraj Bommai’s residence where they planned to stage a massive agitation.
Meanwhile, the family of Patil, said that they are not bothered about Eshwarappa's resignation. Patil's brother Prashant Patil told reporters that three names are mentioned in the First Information Report (FIR) as accused, including the minister, and all of them must be arrested.
“We want arrest, we have never asked for resignation. Resignation is left to the government and him (Eshwarappa),” Prashant was quoted as saying by PTI.
