Gadkari, Jaitley to meet BJP MLAs in Karnataka today

NEW DELHI - Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders including President Nitin Gadkari, Arun Jaitley and Dharmendra Pradhan will visit Karnataka today to meet MLAs in the State where the government has been hit by charges of nepotism against Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa.

Gadkari is expected to meet tate leaders and MLAs to end the differences among leaders of the State BJP unit.he BJP had appointed Jaitley to oversee the affairs of the state.

The party has also entrusted Dharmendra Pradhan, the General Secretary of BJP, to meet leaders of the State unit and try to find a solution to the crisis.

During his last visit, Gadkari persuaded Lokayukta Justice N Santosh Hegde, who had quit protesting the government’s inaction on his report on illegal mining, to withdraw his resignation. Hegde later withdrew his resignation following BJP senior leader L K Advani’s request.

Yeddyurappa, facing charges of nepotism and favouritism in land allotment to his sons, was given a fresh lease of life in November by Gadkari reportedly in view of the coming local bodies elections in the state.

The Opposition in Karnataka, headed by former Karnataka Chief Minister and JD(S) leader H D Kumaraswamy had alleged that Yeddyurappa’s family had sold Rs 20 crore worth of land and raised doubts about its ownership.

He also expressed doubts on whether the land sold by Yeddyurappa’s kin was owned by them or was it denotified in their favour. He sought clarifications from them. ANI)