Karnataka Rural Development and Panchayat Raj (RDPR) Minister K S 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.
Karnataka Minister K S Eshwarappa, who is facing charges of abetment to suicide in connection with the death of a civil contractor in Udupi, on Thursday announced stepping down from his position.
The Opposition party said that Prime Minister Modi congratulating Eshwarappa for not rebelling despite not being given a poll ticket "is unacceptable".
Eshwarappa, a senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader from Shivamogga and who had been a long time associate of Yediyurappa, met Governor Vajubhai Vala and submitted a five-page letter on "serious lapses and authoritarian way of running the administration" by the chief minister.
A case has been registered against Karnataka Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Minister K S Eshwarappa for abetment of suicide in connection with the death of a civil contractor, the police said on Wednesday.
Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader and Karnataka minister for rural development and panchayat raj KS Eshwarappa on Wednesday claimed the Bhagwa dhwaj (saffron flag) may become the national flag some time in the future.
The 75-year-old Eshwarappa, had remained steadfast in his decision to contest, spurning efforts by party leaders to pacify him. He had even filed his nomination as an independent candidate.
Sulking Karnataka Bharatiya Janata Party legislator K S Eshwarappa on Tuesday claimed Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai has assured to make him a minister soon.
However, he claimed that this was a fight to save the party and its ideology and to make Narendra Modi Prime Minister once again.
Eshwarappa would turn 75 in June, the unofficial age bar in the BJP for leaders to contest polls and hold official positions.
While addressing a Veerashaiva-Lingayat meeting in Shivamogga, Eshwarappa said, "We do not want even a single Muslim vote here. Nationalist Muslims will, however, vote for the BJP."
Pandemonium prevailed in the Karnataka assembly on Wednesday with Minister for Rural Development and Panchayat Raj K S Eshwarappa and State Congress president D K Shivakumar charging towards each other stopping short of coming to blows.
The Bharatiya Janata Party's first list of 20 candidates for Lok Sabha elections in Karnataka has caused dissidence among leaders in the state with few claiming that they would switch over to Congress.
Eshwarappa, who recently announced his retirement from electoral politics, also shared a video of him talking to Modi in a phone call.
Amid mounting opposition pressure for his resignation over the death of a civil contractor, senior Karnataka Minister K S Eshwarappa on Wednesday ruled out stepping down from his post, as he wondered if a Whatsapp message can be treated as a 'death note'.
"One thing I want to make it clear that this case will be thoroughly investigated. There will not be any interference or direction from our side. Police will independently investigate the case and truth will come out," Bommai said addressing a press conference in Mangaluru.
He said the truth will come out from the investigation and asked the opposition Congress, which is demanding Eshwarappa's arrest, not to become investigators, prosecutors and judges themselves.
Eshwarappa had initially refused to resign as a minister, but was instructed to do so by Bharatiya Janata Party bosses in New Delhi before BJP National President Jagat Prakash Nadda arrived in Bengaluru for consultations with state party leaders on Friday.
A Karnataka minister has waded into controversy after a 'sting operation' by a television channel on his wife allegedly accepting bribe of Rs 7 lakh regarding a tender pertaining to his department.
The Karnataka legislative assembly on Tuesday passed bills enhancing the salaries and allowances of the chief minister, ministers and legislators.
'There is huge anger among our workers and leaders, so many of us have decided to contest the Lok Sabha elections in Karnataka as Independents to fight against this injustice.'
The Congress legislators have been camping in the Vidhana Soudha inside the Assembly Hall and have been sleeping there in the night.
A contractor who had accused the Karnataka Rural Development and Panchayat Raj (RDPR) Minister K S Eshwarappa of demanding 40 per cent commission for a contract, was found dead in a lodge in the coastal town of Udupi on Tuesday morning.
The Supreme Court on Monday stayed criminal proceedings against Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and others in connection with a protest march held in the state in 2022.
Congress legislators spent the whole night inside the Karnataka Legislative Assembly and Council, escalating demand for the dismissal of Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Minister K S Eshwarappa over his statement regarding the national flag.
Yeddyurappa will leave no stone unturned to ensure defeat for his rival Karnataka BJP chief K S Eshwarappa, who is contesting from Shimoga constituency. However, Eshwarappa won't take things lying down. Vicky Nanjappa reports.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday released its first list of 189 candidates for the May 10 Karnataka assembly polls, fielding Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai from his traditional Shiggaon constituency.
Speaking to reporters after meeting the family, he said, as MLA of the locality, Arvind Limbavali is said to have tried to settle things.
The Lokayukta Court on Monday granted anticipatory bail to Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister K S Eshwarappa and two of his family members in a disproportionate assets case.
All the issues around which the grand old party wanted to fight the May 10 assembly elections have been put on the backburner as party state president DK Shivakumar in damage control mode took up a temple run.
Fakira Dingaleshwar Swami of Shirahatti Fakkireshwar Math, a prominent Veerashaiva Lingayat seer, on Monday said he has decided to contest as an independent candidate from Dharwad segment in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.
The Janata Dal-United parliamentary board chief latched on to reports of KS Eshwarappa, a minister in the BJP-ruled southern state, having said that the tricolour may be replaced by a saffron flag sometime in the future.
While former deputy chief minister Laxman Savadi announced his decision to resign from primary membership of the party, minister and six-time MLA S Angara from Sullia constitiuency in Dakshina Kannada district announced his retirement from politics.
The list does not include Jagadish Shettar who met BJP president J P Nadda earlier in the day to stake his claim to contest from his Hubli-Dharwad Central constituency.
Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader and former Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister K S Eshwarappa on Saturday courted controversy when he asked a woman journalist what can the opposition members do if "someone drags and rapes" her.
Congress legislators will spend Thursday night inside the Karnataka legislative assembly and council, demanding the sacking of Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Minister K S Eshwarappa and also that he be booked for sedition for his statement about the national flag.
Yeddyurappa lacks the Karnataka BJP's unqualified support and Shah knows that.
Stirring up controversy, a Lingayat seer on Monday alleged that mutts (monasteries) are equally affected due to rampant corruption prevailing in Karnataka as they too pay a commission of 30 per cent to get the sanctioned grants released for them.
While former minister and MLA Aravind Limbavali's wife Manjula Arvind Limbavali has got the ticket for the Mahadevapura constituency, the party has fielded Katta Jagadish, son of former minister Katta Subramanya Naidu from Hebbal.
For the May 10 assembly elections in Karnataka, the following are the 20 seats to watch out for.
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