Battered by allegations of illegal mining and wire tapping, Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa on Monday asked the BJP central leadership to form a committee to look into the charges against him.
Hours after he returned from Mauritius, where he was on a holiday with his family, Mr. Yeddyurappa wrote a letter to party President Nitin Gadkari, requesting him to appoint a committee headed by BJP National General Secretary H N Anantakumar, who is seen as his rival within the party.
Sources close to the Chief Minister told PTI in Bangalore that in the letter, Mr. Yeddyurappa suggested that Dharmendra Pradhan, another General Secretary in-charge of Karnataka affairs, and senior leader M Venkaiah Naidu, also be made the panel members.
The Committee, Mr. Yeddyurappa suggested, could also go into the allegations made against him regarding allotment of land and sites and submit a report to the party within two months.
Sources said Mr. Yeddyurappa wants the party to know the truth into the opposition’ charges against him and also in the backdrop of demand by some section of his own partymen for action against him.
Sources said Mr. Yeddyurappa has not mentioned in his letter that he would not be stepping down. “The issue of resignation or stepping down did not figure in the letter,” they said.
Mr. Yeddyurappa, who has been indicted by Lokayukta Santosh Hegde on illegal mining issue, shot off the missive in the wake of reports that Mr. Gadkari has called an emergent meeting at Delhi to discuss the Karnataka political crisis.
