Summary:
Bengaluru, Apr 14 (PTI) Former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Congress general secretary Randeep Singh Surjewala along with many top Congress leaders courted arrest on Thursday while marching to lay siege to the Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai"s residence demanding the arrest of state Minister K S Eshwarappa and his dismissal from the cabinet.
The party has also decided to stage an indefinite sit-in demonstration near Vidhana Soudha till the demands are met.
Eshwarappa, who holds the Rural Development and Panchayat Raj portfolio, is facing charges of abetment of suicide of a civil contractor Santosh K Patil from Hindalga village in Belagavi district.
The contractor allegedly ended his life in a hotel suite in Udupi on Tuesday accusing Eshwarappa of demanding 40 per cent commission on a public works ahead of a village festival in 2021.
The minister not only dismissed the allegation, but also refused to step down saying he was in no way involved in the incident as there were no documentary evidences to prove that the work order was issued in the first place.
Hundreds of Congress workers led by Opposition leader Siddaramaiah, KPCC president D K Shivakumar, AICC general secretary and Karnataka in-charge Randeep Singh Surjewala took out a march in the city demanding the arrest of the Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Minister and booking a case against him under the Prevention of Corruption Act.