India : As an accused in a case registered over the “unnatural death” of a contractor, Karnataka Rural Development KS Eshwarappa submitted his resignation to Chief Minister Basavaraj S Bommai on Friday night.
Eshwarappa said he was quitting to avoid embarrassment to the BJP party.
The contractor, Santhosh Patil, was found dead Tuesday at a lodge in Udupi. He is suspected to have consumed poison, and the police are investigating the death as a suicide.
Before his death, Patil had accused Eshwarappa and his associates of not releasing payments for road work worth Rs 4 crore that he had done at Hindalga in Belagavi, and of “demanding a commission of 40 per cent”.
Eshwarappa along with his supporters travelled all the way from Shivamogga to Bengaluru on Friday morning to submit his resignation. He said he would come out clean in the inquiry ordered by the chief minister into Patil’s death.
However, Congress state chief DK Shivakumar alleged that Bommai was protecting Eshwarappa. “This protest is not for Eshwarappa’s resignation but against corruption of the BJP. The chief minister said Eshwarappa has not done anything wrong. He is protecting the culprit,” he said.
TIE
