BANGALORE: The three ministers — Cooperation Minister Lakshman Savadi, Women and Child Welfare Minister C C Patil and Ports and Fisheries Minister Krishna Palemar — who were caught in a porn-gate, resigned on Wednesday. Savadi and Patil were caught red-handed while watching a porn-clip in the Assembly on Tuesday, while Palemar was accused of forwarding the video clip.
After being directed by the party high command, all three min.isters submitted their resignations to Chief Minister D V Sadananda Gowda on Wednesday morning. Governor H R Bhardwaj wasted no time in accepting the resignation.
With this, the trio joined the league of eight of their former colleagues who had resigned on various charges ever since the BJP government came to power in May 2008.
Though the resignation was the fallout of the stern stand taken by the party high command that the trio will not be allowed to continue at any cost, the ministers maintained that they had decided to step down on their own to avoid unnecessary embarrassment to the government and the party.
“Neither the state nor the national leaders had asked us to resign. We are voluntarily stepping down,” the trio claimed, while pleading innocence.
They also urged Speaker K G Bopaiah to conduct an inquiry into the shameful incident, which has shocked the entire state.
Earlier, the state BJP leaders, including the CM, state BJP president K S Eshwarappa and former CM B S Yeddyurappa, held an emergency meeting and decided to get the trio to tender their resignations, as per directions from the party high command.
In the meeting, the trio are said to have confessed to their unacceptable act and were crying.