The 'Mahanayak' and team, which 'targeted' him with the (sex) CD is trying to frame RDPR minister K.S. Eshwarappa in contractor Santhosh Patil's suicide case, alleged BJP MLA Ramesh Jarkiholi after he paid a visit to the village in Belagavi where Santhosh was buried on Thursday.
"I have enough evidence to prove it is the handiwork of the same team which was behind the CD scam. I was targeted by the Mahanayak and today, it is Eshwarappa's turn. I will reveal everything on Monday, after I apprise the senior party leadership about the developments," said Jarkiholi, indirectly referring to KPCC chief D. K. Shivakumar as the man behind the alleged conspiracy targeting BJP ministers.
"I have known Santhosh from the time he was a (Congress) partyworker. I would have helped him as I am soon to become a minister. I don't know why he took a hasty decision," he added hinting at the possibility of him being inducted into the Bommai cabinet.
Even as the RDPR minister has categorically stated that he does not intend to resign before the investigations in the case are over, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, too, indicated that he would not be seeking Eshwarappa's resignation any time soon. "The postmortem (of the contractor) has taken place only yesterday evening. The probe is yet to begin. I will wait for the preliminary inquiry before taking a call (on dropping Eshwarappa from the cabinet)," said Bommai.
Meanwhile, the Congress party has stepped up its protest demanding Eshwarappa's resignation.
"There is enough proof to prove Eshwarappa is responsible for Santhosh Patil's death. The statements of the family members, the panchayat chief and Santhosh's own (complaint) letter speak of the harrassment he had suffered. It is a matter of shame that Eshwarappa has still not resigned. BJP men are known to be shameless. He is accused no. 1 in the case and must be arrested. We demand a HC-monitored investigation," said CLP leader Siddaramaiah, during a press meet held in Congress Bhavan before the Congress leaders took out a protest march towards the CM's residence.
"We demand that Eshwarappa should be booked under the Prevention of Corruption Act, dismissed from the cabinet and arrested immediately," added Siddaramaiah.
"We have every reason to believe the chief minister is a party to this corruption as he is yet to take any action against the corrupt minister, " said Shivakumar, who also announced that the Congress party would be giving Rs 11 lakh to the aggrieved family.
