BJP presents united face over action on CM

The BJP central leadership was not divided over the issue of taking action against Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa, facing corruption charges, but no prima facie case has yet been made out against him, senior leader Rajnath Singh said here today.

“There is no need to tell Yeddyurappa to quit the post. He will quit himself if a prima facie case is made out”, the former BJP President told reporters here. “When there is no prima facie case, how can he leave the post?” he said when asked if BJP is divided over the issue of initiating action against Yeddyurappa. Singh questioned Governor H R Bhardwaj’s action in sanctioning prosecution of Yeddyurappa on a complaint by two advocates “on a piece of paper”.

Asked about senior BJP leader Jaswant Singh’s statement that those facing allegations should quit, he said Yeddyurappa would go if the allegations were proved and there was no need for the central leadership to ask him do so. Singh said it was advisable to await the outcome of the probe by a Judicial commission and the Lokayukta into allegations against Yeddyurappa.

To a query, Singh said he was not here at the behest of the BJP high command to convince Yeddyurappa to resign, adding “I am here to attend a function at Suttur mutt in Mysore”. He contradicted BJP spokesman Prakash Javdekar’s recent statement the party was conducting an internal inquiry into charges against Yeddyurappa., he said, “There is no internal assessment”.

He termed as a ‘nominal action’, the arrest of former telecom minister A Raja by CBI in the 2G Spectrum scam and said it was meant only to deflect BJP’s demand for JPC probe. The BJP, he said, would not drop its demand for a JPC probe into the 2G spectrum issue and Commonwealth Games and Adarsh Housing Society scams and would continue to press for it in the coming Budget Session of Parliament.

“The Government is responsible for the logjam in Parliament. NDA has decided to continue its protest till its demand for a JPC probe is met,” Rajnath said.