Mysuru (Karnataka):

Launching a scathing attack on Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, former chief minister and senior BJP leader BS Yediyurappa said on Saturday that he will fight until his last breath to remain in politics and ensure that the former was booted out by the people of the state.

Addressing a public gathering at Mysuru, Mr Yediyurappa said, “Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had asked me to retire from public life. Until my last breath, I will be in politics and ensure your (Mr Siddaramaiah’s) ouster. Is there any example of a Chief Minister getting 14 sites for his family in the history of the state? He is demanding Rs 65 crore, claiming that he would return it. Whose money is it going to be?”

Stating that Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar has declared his support for Mr Siddaramaiah, Mr Yediyurappa added, “Mr Shivakumar’s sins are overflowing. You don’t know what is going to happen to you (Mr Siddaramaiah) and when it will happen. He speaks lightly about State BJP President BY Vijayendra and Leader of the Opposition R Ashoka. Mr Shivakumar would be better off bothering about his future,” Mr Yediyurappa said.

“The BJP and Janata Dal (Secular) are marching ahead together. The people are going to send you (Mr Siddaramaiah) home soon,” said the BJP leader.

“I will throw a challenge. Will you dissolve the government now and face the election? The BJP and JD(S) will emerge victorious in 130 to 140 seats in the state and attain a majority,” he added.

“There is open loot and daylight robbery taking place in the state. The people have grown wary of your government. There is no trace of development works in the state. The government has turned pauper. Not a single kilometre of road is being laid. The chief minister and deputy chief minister are involved in rampant corruption. They are not capable of running the administration in the state,” he said. 

“I am an 82-year-old man, I will take up a tour throughout the state and send you (Mr Siddaramaiah) home. I will end the corruption by the Congress government and their misrule,” he said.

“The chief minister and deputy chief minister also criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi. However, former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda respects him and discusses bringing a change in the state. The people need to bless the BJP and JD(S) and bring them to power,” Mr Yediyurappa said.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

In fresh trouble for former Karnataka chief minister BS Yediyurappa, the state police’s Criminal Investigation Department (CID) has filed a chargesheet naming him and three others in a case filed under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.

The BJP leader is accused of touching a 17-year-old girl inappropriately when she and her mother went to meet him at his house earlier this year to seek his help in a case of an assault on her in 2015. The survivor’s mother had filed a case under POCSO in March. 

After the mother died of cancer in May, the brother of the survivor approached the Karnataka High Court and complained that there had been no progress in the investigation.

Mr Yediyurappa had also approached the high court, which allowed the CID to question him but granted him protection from arrest. 

The CID questioned the 81-year-old earlier this month and then filed the chargesheet in a Bengaluru court on Thursday. The three others named in the document have been accused of destroying evidence. They had allegedly tried to convince the mother and daughter to delete evidence. 

Rubbishing the allegations against him, Mr Yediyurappa had said, “I am not complaining to anyone. Time will decide everything. People know what the truth is. Those who are engaging in trickery, the people will teach them a lesson.”