Karnataka Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa on Monday said the Reddy brothers from Bellary — G. Janardhan Reddy and G. Karunakara Reddy — would not be dropped from the Cabinet till their role in illegal mining was proved.
Speaking at a meet organised by the Press Club of Bangalore and the Reporters' Guild here to mark the completion of three years in office of the BJP government, Mr. Yeddyurappa said it was his decision, which he took in consultation with party senior leaders, to appoint the Reddy brothers as Ministers.
“Allegations against them [Reddy brothers] have not been proved,” he said and ruled out dropping them from the Cabinet.
The Reddy brothers are accused of large-scale illegal mining in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.
‘Sushma had no hand'
Replying to a question, Mr. Yeddyurappa defended Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj's statement that she had no hand in the induction of the Reddys in the Cabinet.
“Ms. Swaraj is our all-India leader. What she says is correct.”
“I inducted them in the Ministry after consulting senior leaders,” the Chief Minister said.
Mr. Yeddyurappa, however, did not name the Central leaders whom he consulted when he formed the Ministry in May 2008. Ms. Swaraj created a flutter in the party when she was quoted in a New Delhi magazine as saying that she was opposed to the induction of Reddy brothers in the Ministry.
She said that senior party leaders Arun Jaitley and M. Venkaiah Naidu were looking after Karnataka affairs when the party formed the Ministry three years ago.
‘She's our mother'
Bellary Staff Correspondent reports:
“We consider Ms. Swaraj as our mother and goddess and we are not pained by her reported statements,” said B. Sriramulu, Minister for Health, who is close to the Reddy brothers, reacting to the reported statements of the senior BJP leader.
This is the first reaction of one of the Ministers from Bellary district on the controversy over Ms. Swaraj's statement.
