In yet another salvo against BS Yediyurappa, BJP MLC H Vishwanath spoke to the media on Thursday, accusing the Karnataka Chief Minister of corruption. Vishwanath alleged that Yediyurappa’s son interferes in all departments and as a result, not a single minister in the Karnataka cabinet is happy. The comment comes despite a gag to all state BJP leaders from speaking about the internal differences of the party in public or to the media. “We respect the leadership of Yediyurappa and his contribution to the BJP in Karnataka. But now Yediyurappa does not have that spirit or strength to run the government because of his age and health factors,” said Vishwanath. “Because of the interference of his family members, no minister is happy. In all the departments, his son’s intervention is more. Everybody knows it,” he added.
H Vishwanath was one of the leaders who joined the BJP in 2019, leading to the collapse of the HD Kumaraswamy-led coalition government. He was then the state president of the JD(S) and the sitting MLA from Hunsur constituency. After his disqualification as an MLA, he contested the bye-elections in 2019 but lost. He was then nominated to the Legislative Council by the BJP but was not made a minister by Yediyurappa.
“Recently, they have called for a tender from the Irrigation Department without the clearance or calling for a board meeting. The tender was for Rs 20,000 crore. Is it not corruption?” asked Vishwanath. He further accused ‘central leaders’ of taking a share of the money gotten through corruption. “What about Jindal? 3,660 acres were sold at a throwaway price of Rs 1,12,000. He (Yediyurappa) is heralding here saying I have to give money to the central leaders. Are you taking money from here? These questions are being raised with Mr (Arun) Singh,” he asked.
The comments come at a time when the state in-charge Arun Singh is in Bengaluru to meet with the state leaders. On Wednesday, he held a meeting with the ministers and on Thursday, he is expected to meet with MLAs of the party to hold discussions on the internal differences.