Advani accused of taking money from Yeddyurappa

BJP leader l.K. Advani had taken money from erstwhile Karnataka chief minister B.S. Yeddyurappa to allow him to remain in office after corruption scandals involving him surfaced, Yeddyurappa's Karnataka Janata Party (KJP) alleged Monday. The BJP rubbished the allegations.

"I have documents and will release them at the appropriate time," V. Dhananjaya Kumar, a former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP and junior central minister in the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government at New Delhi, told reporters here.

Dhananjaya Kumar, the KJP's spokesman, made the claim a day after Advani indirectly attacked Yeddyurappa for tarnishing BJP's image by indulging in corruption.

Advani was here to launch BJP's campaign for the May 5 assembly poll.

"Advani has no moral right to criticize Yeddyurappa as he had used his children to threaten Yeddyurappa and extract money to allow him to remain in office," Dhananjaya Kumar alleged.

He said several central BJP leaders were known to take money from party chief ministers.

BJP president Rajnath Singh and state BJP leaders lashed out at Dhananjaya Kumar for making "baseless" allegation.

Rajnath Singh, who was in Bellary in north Karnataka for election campaign, told reporters that the claims were not worth taking note of.

State BJP chief Pralhad Joshi told reporters in Shimoga, about 280 km from here: "let him release the documents instead of simply leveling allegations and we want Yeddyurappa to respond."

Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar dismissed the charges as "baseless" while his predecessor D.V. Sadananda Gowda said "if he proves the allegations, we will shut down BJP in Karnataka".

Yeddyurappa, BJP's first chief minister in Karnataka, was forced to quit in July 2011 over mining bribery charges. He left BJP late last year and is heading Karnataka Janata Party.

Ever since he quit the chief minister's post, Yeddyurappa has been saying that he was "a victim of conspiracy by state and central BJP leaders".