Gadkari stops Yeddyurappa's temple oath plan

Karnataka Chief Minister B. S. Yeddyurappa will not go ahead with his plan to take oath in a temple to disprove claims that he had tried to buy his predecessor's silence over graft issue, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party said late on Friday.

"Our president Nitin Gadkari has made it clear there should be no 'aane-pramana' (swearing in the name of god) and hence it will not take place," state BJP chief K. S. Eshwarappa told reporters here.

Earlier in the day Gadkari said he had told Yeddyurappa not to involve religious places to settle political battles.

"He should fight allegations politically and legally and not involve religious places," Gadkari told reporters on Yeddyurappa's challenge to Janata Dal-Secular leader and former chief minister H.D. Kumaraswamy to swear before the deity in a temple and repeat the claim that Yedddyurappa had tried to buy his silence over graft charges.

"These allegations are made out of political frustration," Gadkari said on the margins of a function here.

Eshwarappa said as suggested by Gadkari, Yeddyurappa will fight out the allegations against him politically and legally.

Yeddyurappa's challenge to Kumaraswamy to swear in the name of Lord Manjunatha of Dharmastahala, about 300 km from here, has evoked widespread
ridicule and criticism. Several religious leaders have also disapproved of Yeddyurappa's move.

Yeddyurappa indicated Wednesday that he may drop the plan, set for June 27.

He also said he will file a defamation case against Kumaraswamy as well as leader of the opposition in the assembly Siddaramaiah of Congress who has claimed that Yeddyurappa and his family have evaded tax worth over Rs. 300 crores.