Sources say BJP core committee has asked Yeddyurappa to roll back de-notification and discretionary quota allotments; retired judge to probe land scam.

CM's son may have to return BDA site

Sources say BJP core committee has asked Yeddyurappa to roll back de-notification and discretionary quota allotments; retired judge to probe land scam.

The BJP high command's delay in finding a replacement for him coupled with his popularity among the Lingayat committee has come as a boon for Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa, who is expected to hold on to his chair for some more time. The decision was taken at a party core committee meeting in New Delhi yesterday.
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Full support: The CM has a wide support base among the politically-strong
Lingayat community. Sources say this was a major factor which forced BJP
leaders to delay taking a tough decision against him

However, sources say that as a face saving measure, the national leaders have decided to ask Yeddyurappa to roll back the controversial decisions of de-notifying land and allotting BDA sites under the Chief Minister's discretionary quota. This means that his family members, including his MP son B Y Raghavendra and sister B S Premamma may have to return the BDA sites allotted to them.

The de-notification of land, allegedly done to favour his relatives, is also expected to be cancelled and the committee is understood to have decided to appoint a retired judge to conduct a probe into the land scam.u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0
"The discussion in the core committee was focused on the developments in Karnataka and the leaders decided to tread cautiously as far as change of leadership is concerned," said a source in the BJP. "I think it is going to take sometime to displace Yeddyurappa."

"Nitin Gadkari is expected in Bangalore on the 25th of this month and the issue of change of leadership will be dealt with then," he added.

Delhi trip canned
In fact, Yeddyurappa was summoned to Delhi and he was about to leave Bangalore just before the core committee met at L K Advani's residence in the national capital. But, the leaders wrapped up the meeting quickly after deciding to take a measured approach to the issue. The CM cancelled the Delhi trip and closeted with his supporters to decide the next course of action.

Senior BJP leaders, including party President Nitin Gadkari, Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Sushma Swaraj and MP from Bangalore (South), H N Ananth Kumar attended the meeting.u00a0

Lingayat support
The source said that Yeddyurappa has a wide support base among the politically-strong Lingayat community and that was a factor in the national leaders delaying taking a tough decision against him. The CM is also understood to have warned them of serious consequences if he was displaced.

Putting up a brave face, Yeddyurappa said, "There is no question of change of leadership. I will complete the full term as the chief minister."

Scam allegations
>u00a0B S Yeddyurappa's sons B Y Raghavendra and B Y Vijayendra benefited from his direct intervention in allocation of 2 acre plot at Jigani Phase I to Fluid Power Technologies (P) Ltd. Raghavendra and Vijayendra are the directors of the company.
>u00a0CM influenced KIADB to sanction 2 acres of land off Kanakapura Road to a BPO firm run by his daughter S Y Umadevi.
>u00a0B Y Raghavendra was allotted a Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) site measuring 50X80 ft in upmarket RMV 2nd stage under CM's discretionary quota after producing a false declaration that he had no property in the city. Raghavendra, an MP representing Shimoga, paid Rs 8 lakh to the BDA while the market value of the site is Rs 3 crore.
>u00a0B S Premamma, Yeddyurappa's sister, is among 122 people who were allotted BDA sites under the chief minister's discretionary quota.
>u00a0Yeddyurappa had appointed Premamma's son as his officer on special duty (OSD) and encroached on lake land in Mysore.
>u00a0A multi-speciality hospital owned by Yeddyurappa's sons got a tract of government land in Shimoga thanks to the CM's intervention.

New face

>>While names including Ananth Kumar, Jagadish Shettar, and Suresh Kumar have been doing the rounds for the CM's post for some time now, Santhosh Kumar, state general secretary, has also emerged as a strong contender.
>>The name of Rama Jois, retired Supreme Court judge and senior RSS leader, is also understood to have cropped up as a candidate yesterday.

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