Karnataka

BJP rebukes Varthur Prakash

BANGALORE: The Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday castigated independent MLA Varthur Prakash for his criticism of senior Minister K.S. Eshwarappa and said “Mr. Prakash is free to withdraw his support to the party if he wishes”.

Mr. Prakash, who has been rewarded by the BJP with the post of Chairman of the Karnataka Urban Water Supply and Drainage Board for extending support to the Government, charged Mr. Eshwarappa with inefficiency and remarked that it was better for the party to drop him from the Ministry.

Reacting to this, State party president D.V. Sadananda Gowda on Monday asked, “Who is this Varthur Prakash to make such remarks against our prominent leader Eshwarappa?”

He also issued an indirect warning to Mr. Prakash about the chairmanship of the government agency.

“We did not give him full marks in the earlier exam. Mr. Prakash should know that the party is yet to issue him the hall ticket for the supplementary examination.”

To a query on what the party would do if Mr. Prakash withdrew support to the party, Mr. Gowda remarked that Mr. Prakash was free to withdraw support if he wished to do so.

Differences between Mr. Eshwarappa and Mr. Prakash became public after Mr. Prakash said that Mr. Eshwarappa had not invited him to the Kanakadasa Jayanti celebrations held in front of the Vidhana Soudha. Both leaders belong to the Kuruba community.

© Copyright 2000 - 2009 The Hindu