In a statement that may cause further embarrassment to the Bharatiya Janata Party, its national vice-president Shanta Kumar on Sunday said he had informed the party high command about the happenings in Karnataka when he was the party in-charge of the State, but his complaints were not taken seriously.
In a hard-hitting comment, he also said the BJP was fast becoming a “party of sons, daughters and relatives.”
“I knew everything what Karnataka Lokayukta Santosh Hegde has now said... I had informed the high command about it, but no action was taken,” Mr. Kumar told PTI here.
“I had asked the high command to relieve me from Karnataka's charge, if action was not taken against B.S. Yeddyurappa. The Lokayukta's report is so damning that the party must take action against the Chief Minister,” he said.
The BJP came into existence as a party with difference, and continued to be a much better party than the rest. “But of late, the culture of parivar-tantra [family politics], replacing Loktantra [democracy], has arisen even in the BJP....the BJP has been the party of workers, but right from Himachal Pradesh to Karnataka it is becoming party of sons, daughters and relatives.”
He noted that at a recent meeting of the BJP Chief Ministers, it was resolved that the party would oppose corruption. Developments in Karnataka — where Mr. Yeddyurappa is facing allegations of corruption in the mining sector — were tarnishing the party's image, he said.
“Whether in government or not, we are for the nation. If we let the corrupt to remain in power, we have no right to call ourselves a party with difference.” Mr. Kumar had recently written a letter to the BJP president, demanding Mr. Yeddyurappa's removal.
