Land scam not enough to unseat Yeddyurappa: BJP
18 Nov 2010
The Bharatiya Janata Party, caught on the back foot over land-grab allegations against Karnataka chief minister B S Yeddyurappa, has nonetheless and ruled out his resignation, saying the issue saying cannot be compared with the Adarsh housing scam in Mumbai.
Yeddyurappa too is trying desperately to clear his name from the alleged land scam, with the opposition producing documents every day on how he allegedly de-notified land to favour his sons.
The chief minister has called a cabinet meeting today and has already announced a high level inquiry into charges against him. The Karnataka cabinet is likely to recommend judicial probe into allegations against the chief minister in the land allotment scam.
The inquiry would be conducted by either a retired Supreme Court judge or sitting judge of a high court.
Over 2000 documents accessed by CNN-IBN show that the chief minister bent every rule to ensure allotment of land for his sons and other family members.
The documents show that the Yeddyurappa's sons Raghavendra and Vijayendra were favoured because of their father's position after he became deputy chief minister in 2006.
Going by the market rate the brothers are now sitting on land worth Rs500 crore.
The chief minister is also accused of favouring his daughter Umadevi in setting up a business process outsourcing (BPO) unit.
According to the BJP, the scam is being used by the Congress to deflect attention from all the corruption allegations it is facing. But there is no let up in the opposition pressure. Janata Dal (Secular) leader H D Kumaraswamy has demanded his resignation.
"Certainly he has to resign," said Kumaraswamy.
While the opposition attacks Yeddyurappa for the land scams, the chief minister is fighting the enemy within – his main opponent within the BJP, party general secretary Ananth Kumar.
Yeddyurappa has shot off a confidential letter to BJP top leaders complaining against a Kumar-led faction for working against him. He wants action against Kumar for anti-party activities.
However, Yeddyurappa today denied any rift in the BJP, saying the party is together and the dispute is only a media creation.
Yeddyurappa also emphasised that the party high command is happy with his government.