BENGALURU: A mysterious CD, which allegedly contains damaging content related to chief minister BS Yediyurappa, is the talk of political circles. It’s again in the news following the recent cabinet expansion.
Nobody is sure whether the CD, which has repeatedly figured in political conversations over the past two to three years, exists. Some MLAs privately claim that they have seen the CD, but deny its existence in public.
State BJP president Nalin Kumar Kateel said on Friday that he had no idea. “I don’t know anything about the CD, whether it exists or not. You have to ask those who are talking about it,” he said.
The CD was first mentioned in 2017 when the then personal assistant of Yediyurappa, NR Santosh, allegedly tried to kidnap rural development and panchayat raj minister KS Eshwarappa’s personal assistant, Vinay. There were murmurs in BJP and political circles that Vinay possessed the CD and Santosh, a relative of Yediyurappa, wanted to seize and destroy it. Santosh is out on bail in the abduction case.
Santosh was named as the chief minister’s political secretary in a surprise appointment a few months ago. In November, he was rushed to a hospital, triggering speculation that he had attempted suicide, which he later denied. The CD again became the subject of intense speculation during this period. While Santosh was in the hospital, state Congress president DK Shivakumar raked up the issue. “I am told that there is a CD, which might be the reason for Santosh’s alleged suicide attempt. Investigation agencies should look into it,” he had said.
Yediyurappa has refuted the claims, challenging commentators from BJP to show the CD. “They (party MLAs) are free to take their grouses to the party top brass in Delhi,” he said. This is the first time that Yeddyurappa has reacted to this issue.