Bengaluru: Having doused the rebellion in the Congress, his coalition partner, Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy on Thursday trained his guns on state BJP chief, B S Yeddyurappa and his alleged attempts to rock his government. Speaking to reporters here , he made a veiled threat to turn the heat on him over the denotification of the Shivaram Karanth Layout if he did not give up his efforts.
Mr Kumaraswamy who emerged from meeting Water Resources Minister, D K Shivakumar, in hospital where he is being treated for food poisoning, threatened to put to good use his position in the state if the BJP tried to misuse its Central power to target JD(S)-Congress leaders in Karnataka.
“Earlier, when he was Chief Minister, Yeddyurappa said he would not rest till he had destroyed the ‘father and sons’ and sent them to jail. But everyone knows what happened next. Now, he is again talking about sending Mr Shivakumar to jail in a day or two. Let’s see who goes to jail. If they think they can misuse their power, I too am powerful and know what to do,'' he warned, adding, “Mr Yeddyurappa says the ‘father and sons’ are looting the state. But who is the biggest looter of the state? What is the mess they have created in the Dr Shivaram Karanth layout? Everything will come out one by one and as Chief Minister, I will take that decision.''
Going on to recall that during the last government, a private complaint was filed with the Anti-Corruption Bureau against the denotification of 258 acres in the Shivaram Karanth Layout without the consent of the BDA Board and the investigation was stayed by the Karnataka High Court, he indicated that the state was now at liberty to reopen the case as the Supreme Court had since passed an order in its favour.
As for Mr Yeddyurappa's claim that the coalition government was demanding commission for development work in the state , Mr Kumaraswamy charged, “ After looting the state, Mr Yeddyurappa is calling others looters. Even our patience has a limit and he needs to understand this.''
In a clear warning to the BJP leader to give up his alleged attempts to bring down his government, he said he was fully aware of everything that was going on. “Yesterday night they invited Nagamangala MLA, Suresh Gowda and Kundugola MLA, Shivalli to join the dissident MLAs. They offered to give them money and take them to Maharashtra and then bring them back to the state Assembly under military protection. The meeting is still going on at the Bowring Institute. I have minute to minute information about it. Let them not test our patience,'' he said emphatically.
