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.
Eshwarappa, who recently announced his retirement from electoral politics, also shared a video of him talking to Modi in a phone call.
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 would turn 75 in June, the unofficial age bar in the BJP for leaders to contest polls and hold official positions.
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.
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.
As the Congress juggernaut rolled on in Karnataka, 12 ministers of the Jagadish Shettar cabinet, including Deputy Chief Minister K S Eshwarappa, fell by the wayside, rubbing salt into the wounds of the vanquished Bharatiya Janata Party.
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.
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 Congress legislators have been camping in the Vidhana Soudha inside the Assembly Hall and have been sleeping there in the night.
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 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.
Karnataka Bharatiya Janata Party president Nalin Kumar Kateel has dismissed as fake an audio clip that hints at possible leadership change in the state, and said it was not his voice.
The BJP MLC, who had switched his loyalty from the Janat Dal-Secular to the BJP two years ago, alleged that the "entire state" including ministers, had been talking about Vijayendra's interference in the administration.
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.
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.
Kejriwal said the previous Congress government was called "20 per cent commission government" and the current Bharatiya Janata Party government "40 per cent commission government."
The Karnataka legislative assembly on Tuesday passed bills enhancing the salaries and allowances of the chief minister, ministers and legislators.
The police which are probing the matter on Bommai's instruction had arrested B R Naidu, the former chief of Congress' Karnataka unit social media team, on Wednesday night from his residence.
The chief minister, who had on Wednesday expanded his new cabinet by inducting 29 ministers, had played it safe by and large retaining old faces, as 23 of them were Ministers in the previous Yediyurappa cabinet, while six were new.
'New Delhi is in a perpetual dilemma. It can't do without Yediyurappa, but it doesn't want a powerful CM. It stokes the opponents within against him. The result is he has never settled down in office, even in the present tenure'
Among the three Deputy Chief Ministers are Govind Karjol, who has also been given the charge of PWD and Social welfare; Ashwath Narayan the portfolio of Higher Education, IT & BT, Science and Technology; and Laxman Savadi with Transport department.
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