Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa on Thursday asked one of his two sons and daughter to vacate his official residence as part of a campaign to salvage his reputation following the BJP central leadership’s annoyance at the nepotism charges against him.
"After I became chief minister, I was surrounded by selfish people. They never wanted good for me (sic) but wanted to fulfill their needs. I have realised this," Yeddyurappa said at a function here on Thursday.
"For the next two years, I will keep my relatives and these selfish people away from my administrative affairs," he said.
The chief minister is known to have asked his businessman-son BS Vijayendra, businesswoman-daughter BS Umadevi and son-in-law Sohan Kumar, to shift from his official residence on Race Course Road to their respective apartments. His younger son, BS Raghavendra, a Lok Sabha MP, lives in his own apartment in Bangalore.
Vijayendra and Umadevi used to spend more than 20 days a month at Yeddyurappa's official residence.
He is now known to have issued strict instructions to his secretaries tobring to his notice any pressure exerted by any of his family members to get things done by the state government.
{{/usCountry}}He is now known to have issued strict instructions to his secretaries tobring to his notice any pressure exerted by any of his family members to get things done by the state government.
{{/usCountry}}During his meetings with top BJP leaders in New Delhi, he was told to improve his image and keep relatives away from the corridors of power.
Yeddyurappa's move came at a time when the opposition Janata Dal-Secular and the Congress have threatened to launch a statewide campaign against him ahead of the district and taluka-level panchayat elections in the next couple of weeks.
Soon after Yeddyurappa came under attack for alleged nepotism in distributing government land to his sons and daughter, they had returned the land as a move to quell the Opposition's charges.