By IANS,
Bangalore : The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Thursday was evasive on whether scam-hit former chief minister B.S. Yeddyurappa will take part in senior party leader L.K. Advani’s rath yatra in Karnataka.
Yeddyurappa “remains our front ranking leader in the state”, state BJP general secretary C.T. Ravi said at a press meet to announce the Karnataka schedule of Advani’s nation-wide public awareness campaign.
Ravi was asked whether Yeddyurappa will join Advani’s yatra that enters Karnataka on Oct 30 from Kerala.
Yeddyurappa, the BJP’s first chief minister in south India, quit July 31 after the state Lokayukta (ombudsman) recommended his trial for graft in the illegal mining scam.
He is now busy attending courts to fight several cases of corruption and illegal land dealings filed against him by two Bangalore advocates Sirajin Bhasha and N. K. Balaraj and Janata Dal-Secular spokesperson Y.S.V. Datta.
Ravi said the yatra will pass through coastal districts of Dakshina Kannada, Udupi and Uttara Kannada.
The yatra will enter Dakshina Kannada from Kasargod in Kerala. Advani will address public meetings in Dakshina Kannada’s main town Mangalore, Uudpi, the main town of Udupi district, and Honnavara and Ankola in Uttara Kannada on Oct 31, Ravi said.
From Ankola, the yatra will move to neighbouring Goa.
Ravi defended BJP general secretary and Bangalore South MP H. N. Ananthkumar accompanying Advani on the yatra as its convenor despite allegations of irregularities against him.
The irregularities allegedly took place in sanctioning loans from HUDCO (Housing and Urban Development Corporation) when Ananthkumar was central minister in the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government in 1998-2004.
“The charges against Ananthkumar are politically motivated. No case has been filed,” Ravi said.
Advani started the Jan Chetana Yatra from Bihar Oct 11.