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BANGALORE: Former Karnataka chief ministerBS Yeddyurappa was arrested on Saturday on charges of illegally garnering prize real estate for himself and his family, an embarrassment that could seriously dent BJP’s anti-corruption crusade and leave the party’s only southern government wobbly.
 
The BJP strongman who built the party into a formidable force in Karnataka and formed its first government in the south found himself to be undertrial No. 10462 in Bangalore’s Parappana Agrahara Central Jail after a judge remanded him to judicial custody for a week.
 
Such has been the dramatic fall from grace for Yeddyurappa. While he weathered the dissidence, he was undone by his family which contracted a large number of questionable business deals that involved Yeddyurappa denotifying large tracts of expensive land in Bangalore in favour of his sons and son-in-law’s associates in the two-and-a-half years he was in power.
 
The arrest comes two-and-a-half months after Yeddyurappa was forced to resign as chief minister by the BJP high command following strictures against him in Lokayukta Justice Santosh Hegde’s mining report.
 
Former Karnataka chief minister BS Yeddyurappa surrendered before a Lokayukta special court on Saturday in a land scam and was sent to jail late in the evening. The court had denied bail to him in two denotification cases in the morning.
 
Yeddyurappa, the first former CM to be sent to jail in Karnataka, joined fellow accused and former ministerial colleague, Ess Enn Krisshnaiah Setty, in prison. The other 22 accused in the cases, including Yeddyurappa’s sons B Y Raghavendra and B Y Vijayendra and son-in-law R N Sohan Kumar, were granted conditional bail.
 
As with his resignation, there was drama aplenty before the 68-year-old politician surrendered. He went missing for over four-and-a-half hours after his bail plea was rejected, keeping in suspense the Lokayukta police who visited his Race Course Road and Dollars Colony residences to execute the arrest warrant.
 
Amid reports that he had almost reached Tumkur and was planning to seek shelter in a religious institution there, the former chief minister surfaced in court at 4.44pm.
 
Judge NK Sudhindra Rao immediately ordered that the accused be sent to judicial custody till October 22. Following pleas from counsel about his client’s frail health, the judge directed the jail authorities to provide proper medical assistance. Turning down requests from Yeddyurappa’s counsel to recall the warrant, the judge ordered a Lokayukta deputy SP to personally escort Yeddyurappa and convey the orders of the court to jail authorities.
 
As Yeddyurappa walked out of the court hall at 4.55pm, he tried to flash a smile, but his trademark ’V’ sign was missing. His sons were desperately trying to hold themselves back from breaking down.
 
It all began in the morning. Yeddyurappa was absent when the court took up the two cases for hearing at 11am. His counsel moved an application seeking exemption from appearance and stated that he was suffering from back pain and unable to climb the stairs and, hence, could not make it to the hearing. He further claimed that Yeddyurappa had been advised bed rest for five days.
 
Taking objection, the court said the question of exemption didn’t arise, as it had reserved order on his bail plea. "Where is he? Has he been hospitalized?" the judge asked.
 
Yeddyurappa’s counsel replied that he was taking rest at home. Complainant Sirajin Basha’s counsel C H Hanumantharaya took objection and stated that it was only an excuse as the former CM was actively attending party functions and visiting temples.
 
At 12.05pm, the judge pronounced the order, denying bail to Yeddyurappa and Setty. He issued an arrest warrant against Yeddyurappa in both the cases. The judge directed the police to take Setty, who was present in court, into custody.
 
The case was posted for 1pm. Armed with the arrest warrant, the Lokayukta police, headed by deputy SP Prasanna V Raju and Abdul Ahad, went in search of Yeddyurappa. Though the former CM’s counsel had submitted that he was taking rest at home, the police team could not find him at his Race Course Road and Dollar’s Colony residences. The Lokayukta police were clueless while Yeddyurappa’s counsel was busy deliberating the future course of action.
 
Counsel for Yeddyurappa said he would move the Karnataka high court for bail on Monday.

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NEW DELHI: A representative of Dalit organisations Saturday sought support for their version of the anti-graft bill, claiming that the Jan Lokpal bill drafted by Team Anna "will disturb the constitutional balance".

"The Jan Lokpal bill wants the executive, the judiciary and the legislature should report to the Lokpal. This will disturb the fine constitutional balance," said All India Confederation of SC/ST Organisations chairman Udit Raj, seeking support for their version of the proposed legislation called the Bahujan Lokpal bill.

Speaking at a seminar, he sought reservation for Dalits and minorities in the proposed anti-corruption set-up through the Bahujan Lokpal bill. "If Anna supports our demand, we will back him."

"Dalits, including the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes and minorities, form a large percentage of population and must be involved in the Lokpal," Udit Raj said at the seminar on various versions of the proposed legislation.

Swami Agnivesh, a former member of Team Anna, also supported the demand for a quota for Dalits and minorities in the proposed Lokpal set-up.

"No legislation or movement will be successful if it does not have social justice," said Agnivesh.

Shazia Ilmi, a member of Team Anna, said, "our movement follows parliamentary procedures" and "was not opposed to giving reservation to the Dalits and minorities".

"We are basically against corruption and want a strong Lokpal," said Shazia.

Udit Raj said even if the Lokpal bill was passed, "there is no guarantee it will be effective in rooting out corruption".

The parliamentary standing committee on law and justice headed by Congress MP Abhishek Manu Singhvi is looking into various drafts of the Lokpal bill, including the Jan Lokpal bill.

The panel is expected to submit its recommendations to parliament by the winter session, which is usually held in November-December.