Booked for abetment to suicide, Karnataka minister KS Eshwarappa forced to quit

Bengaluru, April 15

All-powerful Karnataka Rural Development and Panchayat Raj (RDPR) Minister KS Eshwarappa, against whom police have booked a case for allegedly abetting the suicide of contractor Santosh Patil, on Friday submitted his resignation to Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai.

As a political furore erupted, Eshwarappa had on Thursday evening announced that he would quit. Eshwarappa’s supporters, who had gathered near the Chief Minister’s official residence, shouted slogans asking him not to resign, and against Congress leaders.

Santosh Patil, a Belagavi-based contractor, was found dead at a hotel in Udupi on Tuesday, weeks after accusing Eshwarappa, who is also a senior BJP leader, of corruption. In a purported suicide note in the form of a WhatsApp message, Patil had blamed Eshwarappa for his death.

Patil last month had complained to Union Rural Development Minister Giriraj Singh and also BJP central leaders stating that he was yet to be paid Rs 4 crore for road works undertaken in Hindalga village and had accused Eshwarappa’s aides of demanding 40 percent commission for the release of the payment.

The Congress that has found a fresh ammunition against the ruling party ahead of the Assembly election next year, has formed nine teams, and each team will be travelling to at least two to three districts, to inform people regarding “40 per cent commission and rampant corruption” under the current the BJP government.

The party that staged an overnight protest at Vidhana Soudha said it later plans to take its protests to Assembly constituency-level, to bring to the notice of the people that “Karnataka has been turned into the capital of corruption” by the BJP. — PTI

Cong seeks arrest

Demanding KS Eshwarappa’s arrest, the Congress said he should be booked under the Prevention of Corruption Act. The party also sought an impartial investigation under the supervision of a sitting Karnataka High Court judge.