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Bangalore/New Delhi: Two criminal cases were filed
against Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa and the Congress and the
Bharatiya Janata Party stepped up attacks on each other as the
Karnataka shut-down against Governor H.R. Bhardwaj's sanction for
his prosecution turned violent Saturday.
A day after Bhardwaj gave permission to launch criminal
proceedings against Yeddyurappa over corruption charges, two
Bangalore-based advocates filed two complaints against BJP's first
chief minister in south India in a Bangalore court.
The advocates Sirajin Basha and K.N. Balaraj have named
Yeddyurappa, his two sons and son-in-law, among others, in the
complaints urging the court to take cognizance and bring them to
trial. One son, B.Y. Raghavendra is BJP Lok Sabha member from
Karnataka.
Additional Civil Judge C. Hipparagi will hear the complaints Jan
24 when more complaints will be filed, the two advocates told
reporters outside the court premises.
Filing of complaints came even as hundreds of BJP activists
enforced the Karnataka shutdown by burning buses and stoning shops
at several places to protest Bhardwaj's sanction.
Schools and colleges were closed for the day and hundreds of
people were stranded at bus and rail stations in Bangalore and
major towns as buses went off the roads after many were either
burnt or stoned at several places.
BJP members also took out rallies in Bangalore and major towns in
the state. Bhardwaj's sanction and the protest against it in
Karnataka led to a war of words between the Congress-led United
Progressive Alliance government and the BJP.
BJP central leaders ruled out Yeddyurappa's resignation following
the sanction and called Bhardwaj "an agent of the centre on a
political agenda to destabilise the state government".
"Democratically-elected Yeddyurappa has every right to continue in
the post. The rights of the people of Karnataka and their
aspirations cannot be usurped by an agent of the centre," BJP
spokesperson Rajiv Pratap Rudy told reporters in New Delhi.
Terming as unconstitutional the governor's sanction to prosecute
Yeddyurappa on charges of nepotism, senior party leader Arun
Jaitley said that if this practise gains momentum, it will be very
easy for central government to destabilise state governments.
Jaitley, who is also Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, said
the governor by giving sanction for prosecution has created an
adverse atmosphere against the chief minister and that his action
was politically motivated
In Bangalore, Yeddyurappa also asserted that there was no need for
him to quit and he will fight till the end to prove that he was
honest.
But central Congress ministers hit back at BJP and strongly
defended Bhardwaj's action.
Home Minister P. Chidambaram flayed the BJP for taking to the
streets to protest Bhardwaj's order and said he was "disappointed
that the BJP has raised the decibel level and has taken to the
streets... This is not correct and is totally unacceptable."
Defending Bhardwaj, the home minister said in New Delhi that the
central government had taken note of the developments in Karnataka
and it was not a unique case when a governor has sanctioned a
chief minister's prosecution.
"It is not the first time that a governor has given his sanction
to prosecute a chief minister or a minister. The law in this
respect is clear and well-settled," Chidambaram said.
Law Minister M. Veerappa Moily slammed Yeddyurappa, saying the
alleged corruption and nepotism charges against him are "on
record" and Bhardwaj was well within his authority to sanction his
prosecution.
"Corruption is on record, nepotism is on record," Moily told
reporters in Mumbai.
Yeddyurappa thanked the people "for the voluntary, peaceful and
successful shut-down which showed their pent up anger against the
governor's action".
The dawn-to-dusk shutdown ended at 6 p.m. and several shops opened
and bus services in Bangalore city and across the state resumed.
The chief minister is likely to move the high court Monday
challenging the sanction given by Bhardwaj and also filing of
complaints by the two advocates in the city court.
"I am consulting my party leaders and legal experts and will take
necessary steps to fight legally and politically the charges
against me," Yeddyurappa said.
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