Veerappa Moily slams Karna CM BS Yeddyurappa over land scam

Chennai : Union Law Minister Veerappa Moily on Sunday slammed Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yeddyurappa over an alleged land scam and said surrendering land won’t prove his ‘innocence’.

Terming the recent incident as ?unfortunate?, Moily told reporters: ?The Karnataka Chief Minister can?t prove his innocence just by surrendering land. It is now understood that illegal things have happened?he had given sites to his son, son-in-law and relatives.?

With the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) central leadership making up its mind to ask him to step down as Karnataka CM, Yeddyurappa on Sunday said there is no reason for him to resign.

According to reports, BJP top leaders are trying to convince Yeddyurappa to quit from his political post and are already working on his replacement.

State law minister Suresh Kumar is one of the front runners for Yeddyurappa?s replacement.

A final decision is likely to be taken after consultation with party Central Core Group, including senior leader LK Advani, who is expected to return to the national capital on Sunday.

Meanwhile, party sources said BJP is worried over the Karnataka CM?s refusal to step down.

On Sunday, the Karnataka CM said he will fly to Delhi in the evening and meet BJP top brass LK Advani, Arun Jaitley and Sushma Swaraj.

?In the evening, I will go to Delhi to meet our party members and give all details about Karnataka affairs. 110-120 MLAs are with me, not 10 or 20 or 40 people. Nobody is going to Delhi, just myself,” Yeddyurappa told reporters in Bangalore.

“I will go to Delhi. I will meet Jaitley, I will meet Sushma. I will meet Advani. It is my duty as the Chief Minister. The only successor is B S Yeddyurappa,” he said.

On Saturday, the Chief Minister said he will quit politics if the judicial inquiry ordered into the alleged scams finds any wrongdoing on his part.

Yeddyurappa instead maintained that the BJP was geared up to expose scams by its Opposition parties, including those under Janata Dal (Secular) chief HD Devegowda and his son and former chief minister HD Kumaraswamy.

He added that all papers pertaining to alleged scams under his rivals will be handed over to BJP MPs, who will take these up at the Parliament.

Earlier on Saturday, the BJP put off any decision on Yeddyurappa?s fate.

BJP national president Nitin Gadkari held talks with Yeddyurappa and Karnataka core committee members in New Delhi on Friday, but put off a final decision till later.

Earlier on Friday night, a four-hour long meeting was held at Gadkari?s residence, which was attending by senior leader Ananth Kumar and BJP Karnataka Core Committee leaders.

Yeddyurappa, placing his position before the party leadership, reportedly pointed that his kins have already surrendered their land and he has also ordered a judicial probe into the alleged land scam.

Faced with allegation of wrongful allotment of government to his family members, the cornered chief minister had his son BY Raghavendra (a BJP MP), daughter Umadevi and two other family members surrender their plots.