By IANS,
Bangalore: Bharatiya Janata Party president Nitin Gadkari arrives here Tuesday to assess the damage to the party’s image caused by alleged illegal land deals of its first government in south India, party sources said.
The day-long visit comes in the backdrop of Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa battling charges of favouring his close kin, including sons and daughter, with allotment of prime land in and around Bangalore.
Gadkari will seek the views of Yeddyurappa, state party chief K. S. Eshwarappa, many ministers and party legislators on the impact the allegations have made on voters well as the morale of the party workers, the sources said.
Gadkari’s visit, second to the state since he became the BJP chief, takes place at a difficult time for the party, like his first visit.
He came to Bangalore in July to persuade Lok Ayukta (ombudsman) N. Santosh Hegde, a retired judge of the Supreme Court, to withdraw his resignation. Hegde quit as he was upset at the way the Yeddyurappa government was handling the illegal iron ore mining issue. Hegde, son of former senior BJP vice-president K.S. Hegde, later withdrew his resignation.
While Yeddyurappa has been given a breather by the BJP leadership to stay on as chief minister, his and the party’s problems seem to be getting worse in the state.
Yeddyurappa’s trusted aide Katta Subramanya Naidu quit Dec 3 as minister after state police registered a complaint against him over illegal allotment of 325 acres of land on Bangalore outskirts. Also named in the Dec 2 police complaint are his Bangalore corporator son Katta Jagadish Naidu and eight of their associates.
Hegde is again unhappy with Yeddyurappa as he has ordered probe into land deals by a retired Karnataka high court judge instead of entrusting the investigation to the Lok Ayukta.
Governor H.R. Bhardwaj has also expressed displeasure over the move. He told reporters here Sunday that the government had “done it deliberately to create confusion”.
Ahead of the visit, Gadkari has replaced former Himachal Pradesh chief minister Shanta Kumar as the party in-charge of Karnataka affairs. The job has been given to general secretary Dharmendra Pradhan.
Gadkari has also asked Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitely to give ‘special attention’ to Karnataka.
The BJP chief will also assess the preparedness of the state unit for the elections to local bodies at district and taluka levels due on Dec 26 and Dec 31.
The elections, dates for which were announced Monday in Bangalore, will be the first major test for the party and the government after Yeddyurappa’s improper land deals became public in early November.