Food and civil supplies minister Haratalu Halappa resigned following a report in a Kannada daily that alleged that he had sexually assaulted a friend’s wife in Shimoga.
Even as excise minister MP Renukacharya’s alleged sex romps with a nurse, Jayalakshmi, is still fresh in public memory, the BJP government in Karnataka was put to yet another embarrassing situation on Sunday.
Food and civil supplies minister Haratalu Halappa resigned following a report in a Kannada daily that alleged that he had sexually assaulted a friend’s wife in Shimoga.
Seizing the issue, opposition Congress and Janata Dal (S) demanded immediate arrest of the minister and a CBI probe into the incident. Both the parties threatened to launch a state-wide agitation.
Within minutes after the story appeared on Sunday morning, Halappa sent his resignation to chief minister BS Yeddyurappa who was on a tour of Gujarat. The chief minister immediately accepted his resignation and forwarded it to governor HR Bhardwaj.
Halappa rubbished the media report, calling it a political conspiracy hatched by his opponents, including some from his own party. He refused to name anyone. Yeddyurappa too, endorsed the view stating that the entire development appeared to be a conspiracy to malign the BJP government in the midst of the panchayat polls.
“Halappa, who represents Soraba constituency, is a loyal party worker and a gentleman. He has not faced any allegation in his life. Prima facie, there appears to be no truth in the allegations. I told him not to take a hasty decision, but he forced me to accept his resignation. He wants to clear his name,” Yeddyurappa said.
Transport minister R Ashok has been assigned additional charge of food and civil supplies ministry.
The incident allegedly took place about four months ago at the residence of the minister’s friend who is a social worker. Halappa who arrived at the friend’s house for dinner later chose to spend the night there. At around midnight, the minister said he was feeling uncomfortable and told his friend to bring medicine for him from his security staff who were staying at a bungalow nearby. He said he was suffering from low blood pressure and there was danger to his life.
The report said, unable to find any security personnel, the friend returned soon. He was horrified to see his wife crying and alleging that she had been raped by the minister. The enraged friend bashed up the minister who ended up with a bloody nose. The minister fled the scene within minutes. Showing his presence of mind, the friend shot a video of about one minute that showed the minister in a semi-nude condition and the wife sobbing in anguish. According to the report, threats from the minister prevented the couple from filing a case or approaching the media.
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