3 min readBangaloreApr 1, 2021 08:07 AM IST
First published on: Mar 31, 2021 at 09:02 PM IST
A Karnataka BJP minister has submitted a formal complaint against Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa to Governor Vajubhai Vala, accusing him of “serious lapses” and of running the administration in an “authoritarian way”.
In a letter running into five pages, Rural Development and Panchayati Raj (RDPR) Minister K S Eshwarappa also accused the CM of making allocations worth Rs 774 crore from the RDPR department bypassing him.
This, Eshwarappa said, was a violation of the Karnataka (Transaction of Business) Rules, 1977, and also against the “established practices and procedures relating to the affairs of the state”. He added that the release of those funds was stayed by him “on the advice of State Party President and other senior leaders of the party.” This was then challenged by pressure exerted on the RDPR principal secretary from the Chief Minister’s Office, Eshwarappa alleged.
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Terming such “interference” as “highly unfortunate,” Eshwarappa wrote, “…If the trend continues…I do not know where I stand as minister.” He added that he had written to Yediyurappa, pointing out that such actions by the CM and his office were in violation of rules, but to “no avail.”
“I am forced to approach your kind self and bring it to your notice, these serious lapses and authoritarian way of running the administration by Hon’ble Chief Minister vis-a-vis Cabinet Minister,” Eshwarappa wrote to the Governor.
The letter has been marked to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, and BJP national president JP Nadda.
Eshwarappa and Yediyurappa both hail from Shivamogga district. Once considered close, the relationship between the two soured during the recent cabinet expansion to include new ministers who defected from the previous Congress-JD(S) coalition.
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Reacting to the letter, Karnataka Congress chief D K Shivakumar demanded that Yediyurappa should either resign or sack Eshwarappa from the cabinet. “A senior BJP Minister has made very serious accusations against CM Yediyurappa in a letter to the Governor. The CM must either immediately submit his resignation or must sack the Minister if the accusations aren’t true,” he tweeted.
Taking a jibe at the ruling party, Shivakumar added, “Karnataka’s BJP Government has become a den of corruption.”
Meanwhile, Congress General Secretary Randeep Singh Surjewala tweeted, “The illegitimate born & Unconstitutionally formed Yediyurappa Govt must now go,OR CM Yediyurappa & his spurious BJP Govt must be sacked! Will PM Modi now show conviction? Will PM show moral fibre to sack CM?”
Eshwarappa and Yediyurappa both hail from Shivamogga district and were once considered close. (File) 
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