Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Friday morning adopted a combative tone even as the Congress continues protests demanding the arrest of Minister K.S. Eshwarappa.
Eshwarappa announced on Thursday evening he would be resigning on Friday, after he was booked on charges of abetment of suicide over the death of Santosh Patil, a contractor. Patil had allegedly committed suicide earlier this week; he had accused Eshwarappa of demanding bribes from him and threatening him.
On Friday, Bommai told mediapersons “Eshwarappa has decided to resign on his own and will tender his resignation today evening,” ANI reported. Bommai argued “Congress need not act as judge, prosecutor and investigator. The police know how they should go ahead with the case," Deccan Herald reported.
Bommai said Eshwarappa had assured him he had no involvement in the death of Santosh Patil, but decided to quit on moral grounds as the BJP could be uncomfortable. “He (Eshwarappa) is 100% confident of coming clean of all the charges. The question of conspiracy will be revealed once the police go to the bottom of the issue,” Bommai was quoted as saying by Deccan Herald.
Bommai also questioned the Congress over its handling of a similar case involving a minister in the Siddaramaiah government. In 2016, deputy superintendent of police M.K. Ganapathy committed suicide in Madikeri. He had accused then home minister K.J. George and two IPS officers of harassing him.
Bommai asked on Friday whether George had been arrested by the state police or the CBI in the case. George was given a clean chit by the CBI in the case of M.K. Ganapathy's death in 2019.
