BELAGAVI: Notwithstanding the assurance given by the BJP leadership that he will be re-inducted into the state cabinet once he gets a clean chit in the sex CD case, former water resources minister Ramesh Jarkiholi landed in Delhi on Tuesday afternoon and met several BJP and RSS leaders in the evening.
He reportedly appealed to the party leadership in Delhi to help him return to the cabinet by getting him a clean chit in the CD case.
Sources close to Jarkiholi said the latter is not ready to rely on either Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa or the party leaders in Karnataka and that is why he rushed to Delhi in haste to meet the top leadership to make sure that he is re-inducted into the cabinet at the earliest.
After a meeting with his brothers and family in Gokak on Monday, Jarkiholi had decided to wait for some days without meeting any of the leaders until the government filed a B-report to close the CD case. However, Jarkiholi changed his mind suddenly on Tuesday and rushed to Delhi.
He met former Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis at the residence of a senior RSS leader in the capital and held a 45-minute meeting before speaking to media persons in the evening. He said he had been backstabbed by three BJP leaders in Karnataka and that he would teach them a fitting lesson.
While denying reports that he would resign as MLA, Jarkiholi said there was no question of quitting the assembly seat.
Jarkiholi did not disclose more on his meeting with Fadnavis but sources said he would not stop until the party helped him get back into the state cabinet.
"Jarkiholi is expected to meet some other top party leaders in Delhi to get the CD case closed as soon as possible. A court hearing into the CD case is scheduled to come up in Karnataka High Court in a few days," sources added.
The Gokak MLA is in touch with most of the BJP leaders, including Fadnavis, who were involved in the 'Operation Lotus' to help bring 17 other party MLAs into the BJP to help BS Yediyurappa form the government.