Contractor’s death: Karnataka Minister Eshwarappa announces resignation over corruption allegation

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Karnataka Rural Development & Panchayat Raj (RDPR) Minister KS Eshwarappa on Thursday announced his resignation after civil contractor committed suicide two days ago hurling bribery allegations at the minister.

The senior BJP leader, addressing a media-conference at Shivamogga, said he will meet chief minister Basavaraj Bommai in Bengaluru on Friday and submit his resignation. He said he will request the CM for a speedy investigation.

The minister’s decision followed a brief telephone chat with the chief minister. The CM is said to have received instructions from the party leadership in Delhi to get Eshwarappa’s resignation so that he could save himself from the embarrassment the issue was causing to the party.

The BJP took a U-turn by the evening as Bommai had ruled out firing Eshwarappa from his Cabinet over the alleged suicide of a civil contractor amid the Congress intensifying its protests.

The police took into custody when Congress workers led by KPCC president DK Shivakumar and Opposition leader Siddaramaiah tried to lay siege to the CM’s home office Krishna earlier in the day. The party had started an overnight dharna in front of Vidhana Soudha on Thursday to demand Eshwarappa’s resignation and arrest.

The Udupi police have taken up investigation after registering an FIR on Wednesday naming the minister and two of his assistants in the suicide case on the basis of a complaint from the deceased contractor Santhosh Patil’s family. Patil ended life blaming Eshwarappa and his assistants for not clearing his pending bills worth Rs 4 crore as he had not heeded to their demands for a bribe.

The Congress has been holding protests in Delhi too in an attempt to ensnare the BJP at the national level in the alleged case of corruption in Karnataka.

Meanwhile, the family members of Santhosh Patil accepted his body and performed last rites in Belagavi on Thursday in the presence of Congress MLA Lakshmi Hebbalkar and others. The Congress has demanded Rs 1 crore in compensation to the family and a government job to Patil’s wife, besides clearing Patil’s pending bills.

The chief minister said the government would order an inquiry if members of the Karnataka Contractors Association handed papers related to specific cases of corruption to the government.

The Association had on Wednesday alleged that about half a dozen ministers collected a hefty commission for contracts and about 15 MLAs awarded contracts in their constituencies to their own family members and relatives. Association president Kempanna, who chaired an urgent meeting in Bengaluru, announced that he will release details related to payouts to ministers and MLAs in two weeks.

Corruption has been rampant in the departments of public works, water resources, and health and family welfare, he alleged, adding that the commission menace in Karnataka has lowered the quality of projects.

The deceased contractor had been complaining that Eshwarappa was not approving his bills worth Rs 4 crore for the road projects that he completed in his village in Belagavi as he had not paid the hefty scraps demanded by the minister and his office.

The contractors’ association has demanded a probe by a sitting high court judge or the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and sought a relief of Rs 2 crore to the family of the victim, holding the government responsible for his death.

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