Bangalore:
B S Yeddyurappa has survived to fight another day, after the BJP high command decided to allow him to continue as Karnataka Chief Minister despite allegations of corruption against him. But he is unlikely to have it easy going ahead.
The state's Lokayukta says he will go ahead with his own investigation into irregular land deals. "As per my understanding of law the Government cannot transfer any case from the Lokayukta to any other commission of inquiry without my prior permission. I have written to the Chief Secretary about the legal position. I am not going to abdicate my powers," says Santosh Hegde, Karnataka's Lokayukta.
But the state government has a different take. "This Commission of Inquiry Act is a Central Act. Karnataka Lokayukta Act is a Karnataka Act. All of you know - when there are two Acts - the Central Act gets the precedence," says V S Acharya, the Higher Education Minister in the Yeddyurappa cabinet.
And the Chief Minister remains defiant as ever. "These are false charges, baseless charges and, that is why, I have ordered a judicial inquiry. From 1995 what happened, I will reveal everything from the time of Deve Gowda, S.M. Krishna and Kumaraswamy," says Yeddyurappa.
The opposition is unlikely to relent - Former Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy says he will take out a rath yatra across the state. And the Congress is giving BJP a hard time accusing it of giving in to Yeddyurappa's arm-twisting. "The high command has no command over Yeddyurappa," G Parameshwara, the President of the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee told NDTV.
The state's Lokayukta says he will go ahead with his own investigation into irregular land deals. "As per my understanding of law the Government cannot transfer any case from the Lokayukta to any other commission of inquiry without my prior permission. I have written to the Chief Secretary about the legal position. I am not going to abdicate my powers," says Santosh Hegde, Karnataka's Lokayukta.
But the state government has a different take. "This Commission of Inquiry Act is a Central Act. Karnataka Lokayukta Act is a Karnataka Act. All of you know - when there are two Acts - the Central Act gets the precedence," says V S Acharya, the Higher Education Minister in the Yeddyurappa cabinet.
And the Chief Minister remains defiant as ever. "These are false charges, baseless charges and, that is why, I have ordered a judicial inquiry. From 1995 what happened, I will reveal everything from the time of Deve Gowda, S.M. Krishna and Kumaraswamy," says Yeddyurappa.
The opposition is unlikely to relent - Former Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy says he will take out a rath yatra across the state. And the Congress is giving BJP a hard time accusing it of giving in to Yeddyurappa's arm-twisting. "The high command has no command over Yeddyurappa," G Parameshwara, the President of the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee told NDTV.
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