Defiant BSY says he wont quit

BANGALORE: Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa, who has been indicted in the leaked Lokayukta report on illegal mining, made it amply clear that he would not step down and attempted to buy more time by offering himself for an internal probe by the party into charges against him. He also suggested a high-level probe into alleged phone-tapping charges.Yeddyurappa, who landed in Bangalore on Monday after a week-long holiday in Mauritius with his family, shot off two letters — one to party national president Nitin Gadkari and another to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh — seeking separate probes on both the charges.Releasing copies of both the letters at a press conference, Yeddyurappa repeated what he has been saying ever since charges of corruption surfaced against him. “This is a political conspiracy to tarnish my image through false allegations,” he said, in the presence of 19 ministers and legislators. The Reddy brothers and Sreeramulu — the Bellary trio — were conspicuous by their presence.In the letter to the Prime Minister, the CM suggested constituting a committee under External Affairs Minister S M Krishna, former prime minister H D Deve Gowda and Lokayukta Justice Santosh Hegde to probe allegations of phone-tapping. “It is a serious matter and fingers are being pointed at my government.Let there be an inquiry by the committee consisting of representatives from Opposition parties. My government will extend all cooperation,” Yeddyurappa stated in his letter.He also said he would not only demit the CM’s office but also retire from active politics if his role was proved in the phone-tapping case.Similarly, the CM urged Gadkari to set up a committee under BJP national general secretary H N Ananthkumar, BJP senior leader Venkaiah Naidu and incharge of party affairs in Karnataka, Dharmendra Pradhan, to look into corruption charges against him.“Time and again, this issue is being raised. So, let there be an internal inquiry. If found guilty, I will abide by whatever decision the party takes,” the CM said.On the Lokayukta report, the CM said: “I have great respect for the Lokayukta. I reserve my comments till the time he (Lokayukta) submits his report. My government will examine it carefully and initiate appropriate action at the appropriate time.”