Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa’s political secretary N R Santosh attempted suicide on Friday at his residence in Dollars Colony in Bengaluru. Santhosh was found unconscious in his reading room by his family members on Friday night. His family members rushed him to MS Ramaiah hospital, which is nearby.
According to Santosh’s wife Jhanavi, Santosh is still unconscious and the doctors said that it would take some time for him to wake up. Jhanavi said that Santosh had attended a wedding on Friday morning and that he seemed to be jovial at the time. “He was facing a lot of political pressure. He was scared that he would lose his standing,” claims Jhanavi.
She said that he seemed to be melancholic after the wedding they attended. “We returned home and something seemed off. I asked him if everything was okay. He said he was fine,” Jhanavi said. Santosh went out later and returned home at around 7 pm. He went up to his reading room. At around 7.40 pm, Jhanavi went up to his room to ask him what he would like to eat for dinner.
“He didn’t look fine. He looked like he was going to lose consciousness. I knew something was wrong. So we rushed him to Ramaiah (MS Ramaiah hospital) immediately. He was depressed about the imbalance in his political career. He was affected by it a lot. He is not conscious completely,” Jhanavi said.
Chief Minister Yediyurappa visited Santosh at the hospital on Saturday morning and said that he would speak with him after he regains consciousness completely. “I walked with him on Friday morning for almost 45 minutes. He was jovial and looked happy at the wedding. I don’t know why he took this drastic step. The doctors have told me that he will recover and gain consciousness soon. I will talk to him and ask him what happened,” the Chief Minister told the media outside the MS Ramaiah hospital on Saturday morning.
The Chief Minister's office has been witnessing much turmoil in the past few days. On November 19, Yediyurappa's media secretary Mahadev Prakash resigned from his post. On November 25, Brungesh, former Director of the Department of Public Information was appointed as the CM's media secretary. According to sources, the CM and his team was not happy with the Mahadeva’s reactive approach to the CM’s media management. The issue had cropped up after Yediyurappa's son Vijayendra was accused of allegedly obtaining kickbacks in a land deal. Yediyurappa was allegedly unhappy with Mahadev Prakash's handling of the issue, which was reported by Power TV. Recently another veteran journalist MB Maramkal was removed as the chief minister's political advisor. Media reports had cited Maramkal's alleged fallout with Yediyurappa's family members as the reason for his removal, TNM had earlier reported.