Karnataka Rural Development and Panchayat Raj (RDPR) minister KS Eshwarappa on Wednesday, April 13, remained defiant as calls for his resignation from the opposition grew, hours after he was booked on charges of abetting the suicide of Santhosh Patil, a BJP member and a contractor. Santhosh had earlier levelled bribery charges against the senior minister in the Karnataka government. After Santhosh was found dead in a lodge in Udupi on Monday, police officials investigating the case named Eshwarappa as the first accused in the FIR. The case was registered based on a complaint from Prashanth Patil, a relative of Santhosh.
Ruling out that he will resign, Eshwarappa said, “It is the Congress which has been saying Eshwarappa should resign. There is no note but they are spreading lies that there's a death note and then asking for resignation. The death note here is typed on WhatsApp. Whether Santosh typed or someone else did is not known but it says Eshwarappa is the sole reason for my death. Using that copy, Congress is saying the death note is there.” He was referring to Santhosh’s purported last text message to one of his friends, where he had blamed Eshwarappa for his death.
Alleging a conspiracy and demanding a probe, Eshwarappa said that he had not seen Santhosh’s face even once. He also said that he had met with Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on the issue. “He has given letters to (Union Home Minister) Amit Shah, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Rural Development and Panchayati Raj Minister Giriraj alleging I have done work worth Rs 4 crore and Eshwarappa's aides are asking for bribe. They have written to the state department in Karnataka. But we have written that there is no work order,” the minister said.
Eshwarappa, a senior leader in the state BJP unit is from the Kuruba community, the same community as former Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah. In the last two months, he has faced allegations of bribery from Santhosh Patil, a BJP member and a contractor from Belagavi. Santhosh's family has contended that he was not paid for works worth Rs 4 crore in Hindalaga village in Belagavi. Santhosh had invested his money in the project and the bill for the work was pending. Family members said that Santhosh had visited minister Eshwarappa several times and had pleaded with him to release the amount. But his close aides Basavaraj and Ramesh were demanding 40% commission, the complaint by the family alleged.
The minister not only dismissed the allegations by Santhosh, but also filed a defamation suit against him. “I suspect he might have committed suicide out of fear because he was given a notice. The matter is in court now and our department has specified in writing. These are baseless charges against me,” Eshwarappa said.
The Udupi town police has registered a case against Eshwarappa, Basavaraj and Ramesh under sections 34 (Acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) and 306 (Abetment of suicide) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC)