Governor in Delhi,says drop Reddys from ministry

Bhardwaj,who was in New Delhi to meet President Pratibha Patil,said that he had asked Chief Minister Yeddyurappa to take action against Tourism Minister G Janardhana Reddy and Revenue Minister G Karunakara Reddy. “He (Chief Minister) is a person who realises the problem. I told him you have appointed them as ministers,take action against them. He says I need time. He doesn’t say it is not happening,” the Governor told reporters.

He added that he would meet Union Home Minister P Chidambaram on Wednesday to apprise him of the situation.

“I have taken serious note of the issue. I have informed the Chief Minister and the Central government of my concern. It is whether ministers can indulge in this kind of corruption. Whether can they can continue as ministers and continue to do illegal mining and make profits. It is a big issue of integrity and probity of those in high office,” said Bhardwaj.

Stung by his remarks,the BJP asked if the Governor had decided which role to play. “We would like to know whether he is holding a Constitutional office or working as an agent of the Congress… We regret that the Raj Bhavan is becoming an instrument to bring the Congress into power through the backdoor,” said BJP’s chief spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad.

He also pointed fingers at Bhardwaj’s own credentials on matters of probity,saying: “We need no lessons from Bhardwaj as his record as the law minister was full of doubts on the parameter of probity… His actions as Law Minister in the Quattrocchi case are well known.”

The Reddy brothers themselves threatened to take legal action. “If the Governor has made such a statement in public (against them),we will take legal action,” G Karunakara Reddy said.

Reacting to the BJP’s attack on Bhardwaj,AICC spokesman Manish Tewari said: “Unfortunately,the pernicious writ of the Reddy brothers runs very deep into the vitals of the BJP. Their linkages extend right to the top of the BJP. I do not even know if the Chief Minister of Karnataka,if he so desires,would be able to take action because the linkages are not at the Karnataka level,the linkages are at the Delhi level. The BJP leadership in Delhi is very deeply involved in all that illegal mining.”

Questioning Prasad’s remarks,Tewari added: “It seems that in the BJP the malaise that had started from the top has spread to the ranks… What the BJP needs is to guard against the terror of inappropriate language.”