BENGALURU: Former Law minister and senior BJP leader Suresh Kumar said here on Tuesday that the people of the state were pleased to hear about Lokayukta Rao’s resignation.
Suresh Kumar said that “it has come after a great deal of agitation by the people of the state, a CID probe and an intensive debate both outside and inside the legislature.”
He said that Justice Rao should have resigned long back, ever since it came to light that the Lokayukta office was being used to extort money allegedly by Rao’s son Ashwin.
Recalling former Lokayukta Justice (retd) Shivaraj Patil’s decision to quit over adverse media reports on alleged irregularities in the allotment of two residential plots, he said that in contrast, Justice Rao chose to stick to his chair despite public outcry.
“Our party took up the issue demanding Rao’s resignation and fought for it both outside and inside the Assembly,” he said.
Denying that BJP should be blamed for installing Justice Rao in the post of Lokayukta, Suresh Kumar said that former governor H R Bhardwaj should be blamed for it.
“The former governor, who stubbornly resisted the appointment of Justice (retd) Bannurmath, proposed the name of Bhaskar Rao to the coveted post and we had agreed,” Suresh Kumar who was law minister when Rao was appointed, said.
Referring to Congress MLAs’ efforts to oust Upa Lokayukta Subhash B Adi, he charged that they and Chief Minister Siddaramaiah brought pressure on Speaker Kagodu Thimmappa to adopt the motion in the Assembly.”