Koppal result will prove a point: Yeddyurappa

The former Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa said on Monday that his political influence in the State would become clear once the results of the Koppal byelections were announced.

Mr. Yeddyurappa told presspersons after offering prayers at Sri Mookambika Temple at Kollur in Udupi district that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate Karadi Sanganna would win by a margin of 15,000 votes. “This result will show my political influence in the State. Our party did not lose any byelections when I was the Chief Minister. I am confident that we will maintain our winning streak in Koppal,” he said.

On the dissenting voices in his party on his proposed rath yatra, Mr. Yeddyurappa said the decision of his rath yatra was not taken unilaterally. “It is not an individual's programme. I will discuss the yatra with Chief Minister D.V. Sadananda Gowda and senior party leaders and take a final decision,” he said.

Mr. Yeddyurappa said the aim of the rath yatra was to go to the people so that he could answer the baseless allegations made against him by the Opposition parties.

It would provide him an opportunity to make the people aware of the pro-people policies launched by him when he was the Chief Minister.

“There is no need to read anything more into the rath yatra,” Mr. yeddyurappa said.

Mr. Yeddyurappa said that he welcomed the decision of the Supreme Court to extend the CBI probe into the illegal mining activities in Bellary district.

He said the former Lokayukta had levelled charges against him though he had prevented illegal mining in the State.

He had provided all the information to the Lokayukta to do a thorough probe into illegal mining.

But the Lokayukta had conducted the investigations in his own way and given a report.

“When an ordinary person is accused of something, a notice is served on him to respond, but the Lokayukta did not even extend this minimum courtesy to me though I was the Chief Minister,” Mr. Yeddyurappa said.

Shimoga MP B.Y. Raghavendra, Byndoor MLA Lakshminarayana, and BJP Udupi district unit president Udaykumar Shetty were present on the occasion.

Mr. Yeddyurappa would participate in a “Chandika Yaga” in Kollur on Tuesday.