Karnataka chief minister B.S. Yeddyurappa said he was planning to file a defamation case against governor H.R. Bhardwaj for the comments made against him as well as the public outbursts against the government. Mr Bhardwaj had termed the Cabinet resolution asking him not to allow the prosecution of the CM “the thief complaining against the police” and this has angered Mr Yeddyurappa no end. However, he did not specify which comment or outburst he was distressed about.
He said senior BJP leaders would take an appropriate decision on how to go about the legal fight against Mr Bhardwaj and reiterated that there was no change in his stand on the demand to recall the governor. “We have information that all the petitions submitted to him against the government were in fact drafted in Raj Bhavan,” said the chief minister. “It is better for the governor and also for Karnataka that he selects a state of his choice to live and go there.”
Mr Yeddyurappa held the governor responsible for the loss of property during the bandh, which he said was a spontaneous reaction of people as they were upset at the provocative remarks against him.
“Mr Bhardwaj should tender an unconditional apology for his offensive remarks and own up the responsibility for the loss of property,” he said.
The chief minister also hit out at Janata Dal (Secular) leader H.D. Deve Gowda and his family. “They are yet to respond to my open challenge for a public debate on the land scams they indulged in,” he said. “I will not allow them to escape. I will expose them.”
“They are fighting against me using two lawyers,” he said. “But I would need at least a hundred advocates to reveal their land scams since they are so vast.”