Bangalore:
Former Chief Minister of Karnataka BS Yeddyurappa has been discharged from Victoria Hospital and is back in Bangalore's Central Jail, where he spent only a few hours last Saturday before being rushed to hospital.
Last night, after meeting him, Karnataka minister V Somanna said Mr Yeddyurappa wanted to return to jail as he was "frustrated" with media reports that accused him of feigning illness as a way to avoid prison.
Mr Yeddyurappa was arrested over the weekend for misusing his office while he was Chief Minister to help his two sons get prized public land at throwaway prices. He had surrendered after a Lokayukta court denied him bail. The court sent him to judicial custody till October 22, Saturday next.
But within hours of being lodged in jail, Mr Yeddyurappa complained of breathlessness and chest pains and was moved to hospital. When doctors at the state-run Jayadeva Institute of Cardiology discharged him yesterday, saying his condition appeared to be stable, Mr Yeddyurappa checked into the Victoria Hospital, known for its specialized medical treatment. Doctors in two different hospitals declared Mr Yeddyurappa fit to return to jail. His application for interim bail is scheduled to be heard tomorrow in the Karnataka High Court.
Senior ministers of the Karnataka cabinet and Chief Minister Sadananda Gowda have visited him in hospital - an indication of the clout he still has in his home state.
But the central leadership of his party has been tip-toeing away from him. Senior BJP leader LK Advani, who is on a
rath yatra against corruption, yesterday made the first statement that reflects Mr Yeddyurappa's party is abandoning him. "We are fully aware that no party can win the confidence of the people against the present corruption of the Congress party if its own house is bedeviled with similar weaknesses," he said in Maharashtra.
Senior BJP leader, Dhananjaya Kumar, who has charge of Karnataka affairs, today sought to tone down the Advani effect. He said Mr Advani's words would have to be considered, but that was not why Mr Yeddyurappa had opted to go back to jail. He had done so after doctors attending on him pronounced him fit for discharge, Mr Kumar said.
Mr Yeddyurappa defied party orders to resign as Chief Minister in July after a report on illegal mining indicted him along with other ministers. Mr Yeddyurappa finally agreed to quit if the BJP allowed him to hand-pick several members of the new cabinet, and the man who would replace him as Chief Minister.