In an unprecedented show of discord within the administration, Rural Development & Panchayat Raj (RDPR) Minister K S Eshwarappa on Wednesday approached Raj Bhavan with a formal complaint against Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa's "direct interference" in the affairs of his department.
Eshwarappa met Governor Vajubhai R Vala with a 5-page letter describing Yediyurappa's “serious lapses and authoritarian way of running the administration”.
The minister has pointed out at least three instances where Yediyurappa is said to have usurped the affairs of the RDPR department.
One of them is the sanction of Rs 774 crore for road development on the request of MLAs. "The Chief Minister's Office is putting pressure on principal secretary to issue government order, which has been stayed by me on the advice of the state party president and other senior leaders of the party," Eshwarappa stated.
On March 4, Eshwarappa said Yediyurappa sanctioned another set of work worth Rs 460 crore without consulting him.
In the third instance, Rs 65 crore was "directly sanctioned" on the basis of a letter by the Bengaluru Urban zilla panchayat president, who Eshwarappa said is a "close relative" of Yediyurappa's family. Apparently, the annual allocation for the Bengaluru Urban zilla panchayat is just Rs 1.17 crore. "...there is no logic and fairness in sanctioning Rs 65 crore for one district neglecting the remaining 29 districts," Eshwarappa stated.
Eshwarappa stated that he had kept the three sanction orders pending and that he had registered "strong objection...highlighting the indiscriminate sanction of funds to various MLAs/persons in violation of rules, but it was of no avail."
Eshwarappa, who is known for his love-hate relationship with Yediyurappa, said he had brought these "lapses" to the notice of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and other senior party leaders.
"The correct course for the CM would have been to allocate additional grants, if any, he desires, to the RDPR department and forward the request letters submitted by various MLAs/persons, to the concerned minister," he stated.
Eshwarappa has also written to BJP national general secretary Arun Singh, who is in charge of the party’s affairs in Karnataka, accusing Yediyurappa of sanctioning funds to constituencies represented by non-BJP MLAs. He said he was in an embarrassing situation "in the eyes of our party MLAs and party workers, who are very critical about the allocation of special grants to the constituencies belonging to opposition party MLAs."