Karnataka minister Eshwarappa resigns amid row over contractor’s death
Two days after he was named as an accused in a case registered over the “unnatural death” of a civil contractor, Karnataka Minister and senior BJP leader K S Eshwarappa announced that he would resign from the State Cabinet on Friday.
“I have worked as Rural Development Minister in the Bommai government. I have decided today that I will resign as Minister tomorrow,” Eshwarappa said during a short media briefing in Shivamogga on Thursday.
The Minister said he was quitting “to prevent embarrassment to the BJP” and would submit his resignation to Bommai in Bengaluru.
The contractor, Santhosh Patil (40), was found dead Tuesday in a lodge in Udupi region. He is suspected to have consumed poison, and the police are investigating it as a suspected case of suicide.