K.S. Eshwarappa resigned as the rural development and panchayat raj minister on Thursday. The resignation is in the wake of charges of abetment of suicide of a civil contractor Santosh K Patil who allegedly ended his life in a hotel suite in Udupi on Tuesday weeks after accusing Eshwarappa of demanding 40 per cent commission on a public works ahead of a village festival in 2021.
Based on a complaint filed by Patil's relative, Udupi town police have booked Eshwarappa for abetting the suicide.
Eshwarappa said he will hand over his resignation letter to the chief minister on Friday. “I trust god, I am confident I will come out clean. I will cooperate with the probe. I am grateful to the Central and state party leaders for giving me an opportunity to serve as minister,” he said.
Earlier, the minister had refused to step down saying he was in no way involved in the incident as there were no documentary evidences to prove that the work order was issued in the first place. Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai too had said Eshwarappa would not be asked resign. The CM said Patil's suicide case will be thoroughly investigated and the truth will come out, and only based on the preliminary inquiry the government will decide on taking action against Eshwarappa.
Following the allegations against the minister, the Congress has been demanding his resignation. On Thursday, hundreds of Congress workers led by opposition leader Siddaramaiah, KPCC president D.K. Shivakumar, AICC general secretary and Karnataka in-charge Randeep Singh Surjewala took out a march in Bengaluru demanding Eshwarappa's arrest under the Prevention of Corruption Act.
The Congress is holding a 24-hour dharna demanding the arrest of Eshwarappa. Shivakumar, B.V. Srinivas and other senior leaders are symbolically holding a dharna in front of Vidhana Soudha to overlooking the Karnataka High Court building to remind government about the sanctity of both the legislature and judiciary in democracy.
The Karnataka State Contractors Association (KSCA) had threatened that its members will stop civil works for a month starting from May 25 to protest against corruption in various government departments.
—With inputs from Prathima Nandakumar, PTI
