Ahead of the crucial meeting with the BJP core group, Karnataka chief minister BS Yeddyurappa made a last-ditch effort to save his chair. His family members surrendered the controversial plots allotted to them on Friday.
Yeddyurappa met the BJP leadership later on Friday in the Capital, where he was summoned to discuss the allegations of allotment of land at throwaway prices to his kin, causing a R 5,000-6,000-crore loss to the exchequer.
“Whenever and wherever clinching evidence is there against our minister or chief minister, action will be certainly taken,” senior BJP leader SS Ahluwalia said in New Delhi.
The CM’s sons, BS Raghvendra and BS Vijeyendra, returned the plots allotted by the Bangalore Development Authority and Karnataka Industrial Area Development Corporation, while their sister Umadevi also gave up her two-acre industrial plot.
What’s more, Yeddyurappa's sister and her son and daughter-in-law surrendered two residential plots in the middle class area of Bangalore west.
On Thursday, Yeddyurappa, while claiming that all was well and he would remain in power for the rest of his tenure, ordered a probe by a committee headed by a retired Supreme Court judge into the land allotments made during the last 10 years.
The allegations against Yeddyurappa sparked another round of dissidence within the party, with 61 MLAs believed to have written to the party high command on their letterheads, seeking Yeddyurappa’s removal.
{{/usCountry}}The allegations against Yeddyurappa sparked another round of dissidence within the party, with 61 MLAs believed to have written to the party high command on their letterheads, seeking Yeddyurappa’s removal.
{{/usCountry}}While most dissident MLAs had sent one-line letters asking the party to remove Yeddyurappa, others have alleged that their voices were suppressed by the “dictatorial” chief minister.
(with PTI inputs)