Karnataka ministers G Janardhan Reddy and G Karuanakar Reddy, under pressure over allegations of illegal mining, today paid an unscheduled visit to New Delhi and met senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Sushma Swaraj and Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa, after which they dismissed all the charges against them.
The meeting between the Reddy brothers and Swaraj, who is considered close to them, as also the chief minister at the Karnataka Bhavan came a day after Yeddyurappa held a series of meetings with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, HomeMinister P Chidambaram, senior BJP leader L K Advani and party chief Nitin Gadkari.
Janardhan Reddy, Tourism Minister, said he and Karunakar, Revenue Minister, apprised Swaraj of all the developments.
"We have explained in detail to Swaraj and she has come to know about every detail and what the Congress strategy is", Janardhan Reddy told reporters after the meeting.
"There is nothing in the allegations levelled by the Congress. The Congress has lost its image. For nothing, they are fighting. Whatever the Congress strategy is, it will fail", he said.
Asked about the support from the chief minister, Janardhan said, "We are all fighting together against the Congress. We are all honest BJP workers".
He said he and his brother would hold a press conference in Bangalore tomorrow to respond to allegations by Congress against them.
The BJP leadership is caught in the horns of dilemma of saving its government in Karnataka and at the same time ensuring that its image, in the face of the charges made against the Reddy brothers, does not take a beating.
Advani has asked the Karnataka party unit to make all efforts to save its first government in the South in case the party has to act against Janardhan Reddy and Karunakar Reddy in the wake of stepped up opposition to their continuance in government.
