Bangalore:
Former Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yeddyurappa is spending his second day in hospital today after he was rushed there early on Sunday morning from Bangalore's central jail. The BJP leader was arrested on Saturday in an alleged land scam. His bail plea is likely to come up in the High Court tomorrow.
Yeddyurappa, 68, was moved to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of Jayadeva Institute of Cardiology after he complained of "discomfort" in the chest. He will be kept under observation for 48 hours.
Dr CN Manjunath, heading the five-member team attending on Yeddyurappa, said he was admitted at 1.40 am as he complained of discomfort in the chest and backache.
He is also suffering from high blood pressure and some urinary problems, Dr Manjunath said, adding that ECG and blood tests have already been conducted on Yeddyurappa who suffered a mild stroke two months ago.
Chief Minister D V Sadananda Gowda and some ministerial colleagues visited Yeddyurappa in the hospital on Sunday. Yeddyurappa had resigned as Chief Minister on July 31 in the wake of his indictment by the Lokayukta in illegal mining scam
"We will also be conducting an angiogram tomorrow (Monday) or day after and only after it is done we will be know the exact problem", Dr Manjunath said, adding that one-and-a half months ago, Yeddyurappa had also undergone 'stress nuclear scan' of the heart which showed certain 'perfusion defects.'
"Chronic diabetic and hypertensive patients like him are more prone to such heart ailments which can get precipitated by stress," Dr Manjunath said, adding the BJP leader "will be kept in observation for 48 hours".
Speaking to reporters outside the hospital, Mr Gowda said Yeddyurappa looked very exhausted and was not able to speak.
"We were also advised by doctors not to tire him by talking". Mr Gowda was accompanied by Home Minister R Ashoka, Minister for Water Resources Basavaraj Bommai, Excise Minister M P Renukacharya, Law Minister S Suresh Kumar and Energy Minister Shobha Karandlaje.
The former Chief Minister was sent to jail on Saturday after much drama. Mr Yeddyurappa surrendered at around 3.45 pm in a Lokayukta court and was sent to judicial custody till October 22, Saturday next. This after a special court hearing land cases against the BJP leader rejected his anticipatory bail plea and issued an arrest warrant.
Saturday's events have been acutely embarrassing for Mr Yeddyurappa's party; the BJP's senior-most leader LK Advani is on a 38-day Jan Chetna Yatra with the central agenda of attacking the UPA government on the issue of corruption. Senior leader Dhananjaya Kumar, however, sought to distance the yatra from Yeddyurappa saying, "Advaniji's yatra has nothing to do with this, it is just to create awareness about bigger corruption at the Government of India level."
The party also said that Mr Advani's yatra will pass through Karnataka according to the original schedule.