Thaindian News

Bangalore/New Delhi, March 16 (IANS) Karnataka Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa Wednesday ruled out a probe into a private trust run by his family members, abandoning his earlier offer “for probe by any agency except the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI)”.

“There will not be any probe because there is not even an iota of truth in the allegations,” Yeddyurappa said in the assembly as the opposition continued to stall the proceedings for the second day over the trust issue.

Till Tuesday he was ready for a probe by any agency or a panel named by the assembly speaker into the affairs of the Prerana Educational and Social Trust.

The Congress and the Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) want a CBI probe as they allege that Yeddyurappa and his two sons have made Rs.27.18 crore in the last two years in the form of donations to the trust.

They claim that Yeddyurappa and his sons were trading favours for donations to the trust, based in the chief minister’s home district of Shimoga, about 280 km from Bangalore.

Yeddyurappa’s sons, B.Y. Raghavendra and B.Y. Vijayendra, manage the trust which runs schools and college in Shimoga. Raghavendra is a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Lok Sabha member from Shimoga.

The opposition has alleged that a realtor and a steel manufacturing company have been given favours by Yeddyurappa in return for their donations to the trust.

The issue was raised in the Lok Sabha also Wednesday by former prime minister and JD-S president H.D. Deve Gowda amid noisy protests from the BJP members.

The BJP members interrupted Deve Gowda, forcing Speaker Meira Kumar to adjourn the house briefly during zero hour.

The former prime minister said the private trust had received several crores of rupees as donations from industrial houses, and demanded a probe into its affairs.

He raised the issue amidst the din created by the BJP members, who trooped towards the speaker’s podium.

The trust issue was first raised in the Karnataka legislature Monday, five days after former chief minister and JD-S state president H.D. Kumaraswamy released documents in New Delhi to claim that Yeddyurappa and his family members were using the trust to make money.

On Tuesday, both the assembly and the council were stalled by the Congress and the JD-S demanding a CBI probe.

Both houses witnessed noisy scenes Wednesday also.

Congress and JD-S leaders said they would not stop their ‘dharna’ (protest) in the house till Yeddyurappa agreed to a CBI probe.

In the Lok Sabha, as soon as the speaker called out Deve Gowda’s name to raise the issue for which he had given notice, BJP members were on their feet, creating a ruckus and rushing towards her podium.

They did not let Deve Gowda speak, prompting him to retort: “This house cannot be run by the opposition leader due to her numerical strength. We have every right to speak in the house.” He was referring to Leader of Opposition Sushma Swaraj.

Disapproving of the BJP protest, Gowda said: “Is this house at the mercy of these people?”

He was supported by Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad and Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh Yadav.

With Meira Kumar’s request to BJP members to let Deve Gowda speak going in vain, she adjourned the house.