FIRs filed against Yeddyurappa trigger a political tussle

The filing of FIRs against former Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) in connection with land denotification has triggered a political tussle between the principal Opposition BJP and the ruling Congress. The matter is now set to go to the Raj Bhavan.

The BJP, which has described the act as a “misuse of power” by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, will petition Governor Vajubhai Vala on Monday. Meanwhile, the CM on Sunday said that there was no political vendetta behind the action.

BJP leader R. Ashok announced that a delegation of party leaders would meet Mr. Vala and seek the dismissal of the Siddaramaiah government for allegedly misusing power to target leaders of the Opposition. “The FIRs were hurriedly filed against Mr. Yeddyurappa within 30 minutes of receiving the complaint. Why is the government singling him out? Let it file FIRs against all the Chief Ministers who took up denotification of land in the past 20 years,” he said, pointing out that Mr. Siddaramaiah himself was facing such allegations.

Referring to a complaint by a Karnataka Administrative Service (KAS) officer that he was being pressured by the ACB to give a statement against Mr. Yeddyurappa, Mr. Ashok alleged that FIRs have been filed against the BJP State president only to stop him from becoming the next CM.

However, Mr. Siddaramaiah dismissed the BJP’s charges and wondered that if this was considered an act of political vendetta, how would one describe the Income Tax raids against Congress leader and Energy Minister D.K. Shivakumar.

He asked why Mr. Yeddyurappa had approached the Karnataka High Court against the FIRs if there was really no substance in them, as being claimed by his party.

Law Minister T.B. Jayachandra sought to play down the allegations of the KAS officer, who is also an accused in the denotification case. He said such a statement by an accused should not be accorded importance. “The inquiry is done on the basis of records and documents, not a mere complaint or statements,” he said.

Meanwhile, Janata Dal (Secular) national president H.D. Deve Gowda argued that it was not proper to project the filing of FIRs as politically motivated. He told reporters in Vijayapura that the matter should be left to people to take a call. Mr. Gowda also maintained that the BJP State unit’s opposition to the filing FIRs goes against its national unit’s resolve to build a “corruption-free India”.