'Justice is done, I stand vindicated...' Yeddyurappa tweeted.
Karnataka Lokayukta Justice Santosh N Hegde, who is probing illegal mining in the state, on Thursday claimed that his phone has been tapped. Hegde, a former Supreme Court judge, told PTI that after reports of alleged bugging in the office of Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee surfaced, he had asked a professional to carry out a check in his office. "(The professional) told me that my telephone has been tapped. Every conversation was being recorded," he said.
Lok Sabha member D V Sadananda Gowda was on Thursday sworn-in as chief minister of Karnataka, succeeding B S Yeddyurappa, who quit in the wake of the Lokayukta report on illegal mining that indicted him.
Crisis in the Bharatiya Janata Party's Karnataka unit appeared to worsen on Friday with former chief minister B S Yeddyurappa insisting on a February 27 ultimatum for his reinstatement and party president Nitin Gadkari ruling out replacing incumbent Sadananda Gowda. Yeddyurappa, who was forced to resign more than six months ago after a Lokayukta report indicted him on illegal mining, made it clear to the party chief that he was in no mood to wait any longer.
After spending more than three years in jail, mining baron and former Karnataka Minister Gali Janardhan Reddy on Friday stepped out of the central prison in Bengaluru after being granted bail by the Supreme Court in an illegal mining case.
Karnataka Governor H R Bhardwaj on Wednesday said he has a list of corrupt people in the state and offered to furnish it to those interested. "I have given the list to Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa also," Bhardwaj said. Bhardwaj's remarks came just a few days after he shot off two letters to Yeddyurappa seeking his response to land scam charges against him and on illegal mining allegedly involving three ministers -- G Janardhana Reddy, G Karunakara Reddy and B Sreeramulu.
D Sadananda Gowda will be sworn in as the new chief minister of Karnataka on Thursday at 4.30 pm, according to a communication from the Raj Bhavan.
The Goa Foundation started filing writ petitions before the Bombay High Court from 1992 onwards against several mining companies.
The Centre on Thursday rejected demand for ban on iron ore export, but said states need to take stringent steps to prevent illegal mining.
The Bharatiya Janata Party high command, meanwhile, has indicated that it could accept Yeddyurappa's option of setting up an internal committee to look into the allegations against the CM and his sons. This would give the BJP time.
Almost three months after announcing his new party, former Karnataka minister and mining baron G Janardhana Reddy on Monday announced 'football' as its poll symbol, the first list of candidates, and also manifesto, ahead of the assembly elections due by May.
Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa has ruled out sacking of Reddy brothers from his cabinet over the illegal mining controversy, saying there was no proof against them. Yeddyurappa said he would act against the Reddy brothers if there was proof of illegal mining by them in the state.
The Karnataka Government on Tuesday ruled out a CBI probe into the illegal iron ore mining and export scam, even as the stand-off with the Opposition showed no signs of resolution.
Attacking the Bharatiya Janata Party on illegal mining issue, Leader of the Opposition in Karnataka Assembly Siddaramaiah on Monday said it was the turn of former chief minister B S Yeddyurappa to go to jail after mining baron and former minister G Janardhana Reddy.
But nobody in Karnataka is looking to raise the Bellary illegal mining issue in their election campaign.
With just a few hours to go before Lokayukta of Karnataka Justice Santhosh Hegde submits his report on illegal mining, there is a lot of talk about a possible successor to Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa.
In the wake of Karnataka Lokayukta's indictment of Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa on the illegal mining issue, Congress on Thursday gunned for his removal, but a defensive Bharatiya Janata Party said the report had "lost sanctity" as it has been leaked.
Vicky Nanjappa explores Justice Santosh Hegde's report on illegal mining in Karnataka and finds out a shocking case of abuse of power and guidelines in Bellary
The Karnataka high court on Thursday granted anticipatory bail to former Karnataka chief minister B S Yeddyurappa, his two sons and son-in-law in relation to the illegal mining case.
The high court verdict freeing former Chief Minister of Karnataka, B S Yeddyurappa from the illegal mining report will change the political weather in Karnataka once again. Vicky Nanjappa reports
Union Minister of State for Environment and Forests Jairam Ramesh's recent statement that no economic activity, including illegal mining, would be allowed in forest areas has sounded alarm bells in Bellary.
'His willingness to take the initiative to fight for truth and justice and his willingness to cross swords with anyone for a just cause.'
Telugu Desam Party supremo Chandrababu Naidu's visit to the Karnataka Raj Bhavan on Tuesday has set tongues wagging in Andhra Pradesh.
The BJP released the list a day after its central election committee met to finalise the names of its candidates for the high-stakes election.
India was once the world's third largest iron ore exporter and Goa its biggest exporting state
Congress and Left parties on Thursday demanded the resignation of Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa following his indictment by the state Lokayukta on illegal mining issue but a defensive Bharatiya Janata Party ruled out his stepping down.
The verdict could force steelmakers to cut output or import expensive iron ore.
The moment a case is filed against a political leader, opposition parties go all out demanding his resignation. On Thursday, a FIR was registered against three former chief ministers of Karnataka in connection to a case of illegal mining. The FIR was registered in the wake of a private complaint filed in the court of the Karnataka Lokayukta, which alleged that S M Krishna, N Dharam Singh and H D Kumaraswamy had helped certain companies carry out illegal mining.
The Karnataka government has told the Supreme Court-appointed Central Empowerment Committee that it could go ahead and probe the three former chief ministers of the state in connection with the illegal mining case.
A Central Bureau of Investigation court on Monday summoned the wife of mining baron and former Karnataka minister G Janardhana Reddy to appear before it on July 10 in an illegal mining case filed against them.
Bharatiya Janata Party's Karnataka unit on Wednesday termed as politically motivated the arrest of former minister and mining baron G Janardhana Reddy by Central Bureau of Investigation in connection with illegal mining, as the agency had not probed allegations of Congress leaders involved in it.
Conceding illegal mining in Shivamogga, his native district, Yediyurappa said the quarry owner and two of his associates have been arrested for the explosion that occurred on Thursday night and he would inspect the blast site on Saturday.
The Congress on Sunday slammed the BJP government in Karnataka for "avoiding" a CBI probe into the illegal mining in the state, saying "the loot is brazen". Reacting to Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa's "clean chit" to Reddy brothers, who are ministers in the state government, in the illegal mining episode, Congress spokesperson Abishek Singhvi said.
An embattled former Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa on Friday welcomed the Supreme Court order for a Central Bureau of Investigation probe into illegal mining and donations received by his family-run trust from mining firms.
Former Karnataka minister B Sreeramulu, a close associate of former minister G Janardhana Reddy, on Saturday charged the Central Bureau of Investigation with "acting in a hurry" in arresting the mining baron in an illegal mining case. "I am confident that Janardhana Reddy will come clean of the charges of illegal mining levelled against him. The CBI acted in a great hurry in arresting Reddy. We would have cooperated in the investigation," he said.
Former Karnataka minister and mining baron G Janardhana Reddy and his personal assistant Ali Khan, arrested in connection with an illegal mining case, were on Friday remanded to judicial custody till March 24 by a CBI court in Bengaluru.
The wedding celebrations show the controversial mining baron retains influence over elected representatives, whichever party is in power.
The Supreme Court on Friday directed the Central Empowerment Committee, which is looking into the illegal mining issue, to verify whether a Central Bureau of Investigation probe is necessary against former Karnataka chief minister B S Yeddyurappa and his sons. A bench comprising Chief Justice S H Kapadia and Justices Aftab Alam and Swatantra Kumar issued the directive based on a petition seeking a probe against them.
External Affairs Minister S M Krishna on Friday moved the Karnataka High Court against the order of the Lokayukta court, which directed the police to investigate the illegal mining case against him.
