Yeddyurappa rules out resignation, says will fight till end

BANGALORE - Karnataka Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa Saturday ruled out resigning following the filing of criminal cases against him and asserted that he will fight till the end and come out clean.

“Why should I,” he shot back when asked at a press meet whether he would resign now that Governor H.R. Bhardwaj had permitted his prosecution over corruption charges and cases had been filed.

Quoting senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader and former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, the party’s first chief minister in Karnataka said: “No showing of one’s back and no question of running away.”

Launching a blistering attack on Bhardwaj, Yeddyurappa said he will take a round of the state soon and “explain to the people the role the governor has played and also that of Congress and Janata Dal-Secular (JDS) (on the issue of Bhardwaj’s sanction)”.

Calling Bhardwaj “an agent of (Congress-led) United Progressive Alliance government (at New Delhi)”, Yeddyurappa said, “he is behaving like a man with huge political ambition”.

Referring to Saturday’s Karnataka shut-down called by his party to protest Bhardwaj’s decision, Yedddyurappa said: “The successful shut-down is expression of the pent up anger of the people against the governor.”

Bhardwaj late Friday accorded sanction to two Bangalore-based advocates to file criminal cases against Yeddyurappa over corruption charges.

The advocates Sirajin Basha and K.N. Balaraj Saturday filed two cases against the chief minister in a court here.

Yeddyurappa said Bhardwaj’s sanction was “pre-determined”. “He has behaved like an investigating officer.”

Asserting that there was not even a shred of evidence to sanction his prosecution, the chief minister asserted: “I will fight this politically and legally. I am 100 percent confident that I will prove I am honest.”

Yeddyurappa said Bhardwaj had acted “at the instigation of the Congress and JDS”. “From the day he assumed office, he has been trying to destabilize my government,” the chief minister said.

Bhardwaj became governor in June 2009 and Yeddyurappa assumed power in May 2008.

Several times during the press meet that lasted around half-an-hour, Yeddyurappa referred to Bhardwaj as an “agent of Congress and JDS, the man who has converted Raj Bhavan into opposition parties’ office, a man who is behaving like an opposition leader”.

“He has brought disgrace to the high office of the governor, he has lowered the dignity of the office, has behaved in an irresponsible manner, acted unconstitutionally,” Yeddyurappa said in a no-holds barred attack on Bhardwaj.

The chief minister also accused Bhardwaj of pettiness because he refused to give a copy of the sanction order Friday.

“Only this (Saturday) morning when 10 of our ministers met him, he gave the copy. This is the level (to which) he has stooped,” the chief minister added.

“He did not even have the courtesy to give me a copy of the complaint filed by two advocates based on which he granted sanction.”

The chief minister said Saturday’s shut-down was “voluntary and its success shows the anger of the people against the governor’s actions”.

“I hope at least now he will behave with dignity,” Yeddyurappa said.

He repeated that the party’s central and state leaders and BJP parliament members from Karnataka will meet President Pratibha Patil in New Delhi Jan 24 to brief her about Bhardwaj’s conduct.

Asked whether they will demand Bhardwaj’s recall, Yeddyurappa only said: “Wait till January 24.”