Sanction to Prosecute Karnataka CM given

Nod to try Yeddy
OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT
New Delhi, Jan. 21: Karnataka governor Hans Raj Bharadwaj tonight sanctioned the prosecution of chief minister B.S. Yeddyurappa and his home minister R. Ashoka following charges of their involvement in land scams.

Yeddyurappa will be prosecuted under Section 19 of the Prevention of Corruption Act.

The BJP indicated it would rally behind him and project Bharadwaj’s move as “political vendetta” and a “diversionary tactic” meant to “deflect attention” from the “scams” plaguing the UPA regime.

“It is politically motivated and done in haste,” said Rajya Sabha member Arun Jaitley.

Sources said Yeddyurappa would not resign for two reasons: one, Bharadwaj had acted on a “private” complaint by a group of lawyers, allegedly close to the Janata Dal (Secular), who may now file an FIR. The sources said the Lokayukta, a statutory body, was already probing the charges of “illegal” land deals and if it had sought the governor’s permission, the chief minister would have quit without ado.

“If a constitutional head starts reacting to private petitioners, then it will be a free-for-all; no CM will be able to survive for more than a day. The governor may be a statutory authority but even he has to wait for an investigation to yield results before acting,” a source said.

Second, in 2009 when Virbhadra Singh, former Himachal Pradesh chief minister and now Union minister, was booked in a two-year corruption case and an FIR was registered against him under the same act that will be invoked against Yeddyurappa, the Congress had made it clear he would not resign.

Sources, however, added that if a chargesheet was filed against Yeddyurappa, it could “alter” the circumstances. Lalu Prasad and Uma Bharti had quit as chief ministers when they were charged with corruption and abetment of communal disharmony.

The BJP’s Karnataka MPs will meet the President on Monday to demand Bharadwaj’s recal

Normally Governor's do not have an independent voice as they like our President are political appointees and act like rubber stamps to the government at the centre.
However, even if his governor has acted at the behest of the Congress government at the centre, I appreciate his action.
He has acted correctly in allowing Yeddyurappa to be prosecuted.
If the BJP has its compulsions in not making him resign it does not mean we have to tolerate him.He should have resigned on his own but such is the attraction of of the CM's chair that these political leeches have to be peeled out with salt and other criminal proceedings.
I hope he is kicked out fast.
This whole episode is giving the BJP, "a so called party with a differenc", very bad publicity, and will harm them all over India.