Karnataka CM Yeddyurappa decides to back Reddy brothers

After a meeting with the top Bharatiya Janata Party in New Delhi on Sunday, Karnataka chief minister B S Yeddyurappa has decided to continue backing the Reddy brothers, and to take the offensive against the opposition in the state.

The beleaguered chief minister also had a breakfast meeting with the Reddys - Karunakara and Janardhan – who are ministers in the state cabinet. They are also owners of the Mining Co, which is in the eye of a storm over illegal iron ore mining in the state. The issue has been brought into sharp focus after Karnataka governor H R Bharadwaj spoke out against it.

After the meeting, Yeddyurappa gave a clean chit to the Reddys. The brothers said they would hold a press conference in Bangalore to clear the air on the charges against them.

"There is no question of dropping them from the cabinet," said the chief minister. "There is no evidence or charges against them." He also said that the Lok Ayukta should probe all the charges of illegal mining in the state since 2003.

Flaying the chief minister's clean chit, Congress spokesperson Abishek Singhvi said though the announcement was shocking, it did not come as a surprise. "The protectors or supposed protectors are now predators ... (there is) absolute abdication of the rule of law in the state. The loot is brazen," he said.

Meanwhile, the Karnataka ministers and the BJP leadership would take on both the Congress and the Janata Dal (Secular) by fanning out into the districts in an attempt to debunk the opposition. ''The people know what is our party and who is Yeddyurappa,'' said the chief minister.