Yeddyurappa faces new charges, and quit demands
Wednesday June 22, 2011 07:55:28 PM,
IANS
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New
Delhi/Bangalore: A day after the Karnataka high court
remarked that the state seemed to have become number one in
corruption, Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa Wednesday faced new
charges of "fraudulently" acquiring a cement company in the state
and fresh demands for his resignation.
Former chief minister H.D. Kumaraswamy levelled fresh allegations
of graft against the chief minister.
"Big fishes of BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) are involved and their
names will come out if the central government probes the affairs
of a non-banking financial company in Kolkata through which
Yeddyurappa's family managed the illegal, fraudulent and deceptive
acquisition of Ratna Cements in Belgaum district," Kumaraswamy
told reporters in New Delhi.
Kumaraswamy's allegations came as his Janata Dal-Secular party and
the Congress in Bangalore called for Yeddyurappa's immediate
resignation after state Chief Justice J.S. Khehar's reported
observation Tuesday that Karnataka seems to have become the number
one corrupt state.
Justice Khehar reportedly made the statement while hearing a case
pertaining to grant of licence for granite quarrying.
Kumaraswamy and Congress state president G. Parameshwara demanded
the immediate response of the chief minister and the ruling BJP to
the Chief Justice's comments. Parameshwara sought Yeddyurappa's
resignation.
Yeddyurappa declined to react and only said: "I will not comment.
I have great respect for the judiciary."
However, state BJP chief K.S. Eshwarappa termed Justice Khehar's
comments as "personal opinion".
Addressing a press conference in New Delhi, Kumaraswamy said
Yeddyurappa's family had acquired the NBFC, Indravir Kutir, in
Kolkata in 2009 to facilitate their "fraudulent acquisition of
Ratna Cements in Belgaum", about 500 km from Bangalore.
He said the cement firm had incurred heavy losses and also not
paid around Rs.7 crore to Karnataka State Industrial Investment &
Development Corporation.
"Yeddyurappa who was deputy chief
minister in 2006 handling finance portfolio and the then
industries minister Katta Subramanya Naidu entered into a
conspiracy to defraud KSIIDC and waived the dues from the cement
firm.
"This was done with an intention to acquire the company later. The
acquisition was completed in 2009, a year after Yeddyurqappa
became chief minister," Kumaraswamy said.
He also claimed that Yeddyurappa had favoured his sons by
"illegally allotting 1,400 acres for lime stone quarrying for the
cement plant".
Kumaraswamy declined to name the "big fishes of BJP high command"
involved and said "if the central finance department does not
initiate a probe, we will file a public interest petition in a
court to bring out the truth".
In Bangalore, Yeddyurappa dismissed Kumaraswamy's charges as
"totally baseless".
"All details will be made public in a day or two," he said.
Yeddyurappa said a defamation case against Kumaraswamy would also
be filed.
The allegations of graft come two days ahead of BJP's national
campaign against corruption.
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