Prerana Education Trust sparks more uproar in Karnataka Houses

Deadlock continued in both the houses of the Karnataka state legislature on the second day over the opposition demand for a CBI probe into affairs of Prerana Education Trust (PET) run by chief minister BS Yeddyurappa’s sons. Opposition Congress and JD(S) stuck to their demand for a CBI probe into donations collected by the trust while chief minister BS Yeddyurappa rejected the demand saying that PET has not done anything wrong.

Congress and JD(S) members gathered in the well of the house and protested that they would not budge from there until their demand for a CBI was accepted.

When the opposition continued the dharna, without listening to the speaker’s requests, law and parliamentary affairs minister S Suresh Kumar intervened. He said, “We will not hand over the probe to the CBI. We consider it as Congress Bureau of Investigation. It traps the innocent and lets the guilty get away.”

Responding to allegations that the trust received a donation of Rs1.37 crore from Adarsh Developers and `10 crore from South West Mining Company Ltd, Yeddyurappa said, “It is true that donations have been received, but it is wrong to say that state government has shown any favours to these companies in return for their donations. The Jindal Group had donated Rs10 crore to construct an auditorium in its name, on the condition that they would recruit top 10 students in the campus interview. The state government has not issued any new mining leases for the company.” he added. Not satisfied with his response, the opposition demanded a CBI probe and continued its dharna.