From Our Special Correspondent
Daijiworld Media Network
Bengaluru, Mar 31: Even as senior BJP leader Basavaraja Patil Yatnal’s open rebellion against Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa refuses to die down despite the issue of a show cause notice, now it is the turn of another senior leader and Cabinet Minister in the Yediyurappa ministry to fire a serious salvo against the Chief Minister by directly writing a letter to Karnataka Governor Vajubhai Vala and accusing the former of ‘interfering in the affairs of his department’.
Eshwarappa, who hails from Yediyurappa’s Shivamogga district and was a close and trusted lieutenant and also a former Deputy Chief Minister, has dared to raise the banner of revolt against the Chief Minister and instead of taking up the matter with the State party leadership or high command and written to the Governor against him.
How the Chief Minister handles the brewing turmoil, which is sure to add grist to the so-called dormant dissidents in the State BJP, remains to be seen.
K S Eshwarappa, the Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Minister, has on Wednesday written a letter to Governor Vajubhai Vala accusing Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa of ‘interfering in the affairs of his department’.
Citing several rules of Karnataka Government Transaction 1977, Eshwarappa alleged that the Chief Minister had sanctioned Rs 774 crore under his department - Rural Development and Panchayat Raj, without his approval.
Eshwarappa, who was once Yediyurappa's closest aide from Shivamogga, has drifted apart from him after the cabinet expansion and is obviously peeved at being relegated to the background.
Listing three such cabinet allocations pushed by the Chief Minister without Eshwarappa's assent, the Cabinet Minister explained that Rs 65 crore was sanctioned by Yediyurappa for Bangalore Urban Zilla panchayat in spite of the allocation being only Rs 1.17 crore- neglecting all other 29 districts.
In other instances, the Chief Minister had sanctioned Rs 460 crore for civil works and another Rs 774 crore for similar works without Eshwarappa's sanction.
The Shivamogga veteran states that all orders have been stayed by his department, but the Chief Minister’s office is allegedly pressuring the principal secretary to issue the order.
Eshwarappa adds that Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, National BJP President J P Nadda, State party in-charge Arun Kumar and BJP National Organising Secretary B L Santosh - the top BJP leadership, have been apprised of this issue.
Reacting to a rift between the two, senior Congress leader Randeep Surjewala has in a tweet said: “What @INCIndia always said about Yediyurappa Govt has been verified by his own minster. It’s an illegitimate Govt born through stole mandate. It is mired in corruption. It is run in an authoritarian fashion to serve one man only. It should be shown the door.’’
The open rift within the ruling BJP even as the State is poised to face the crucial by-elections to the assembly constituencies and the Belagavi Lok Sabha seat at a time the fallout of the sex CD issue against former minister Ramesh Jarkiholi and the registering of a FIR could mar the prospects of the BJP.