After local news channels aired an alleged sex-tape, Karnataka Minister Ramesh Jarkiholi resigned today on “moral grounds”.
After local news channels aired an alleged sex-tape, Karnataka Minister Ramesh Jarkiholi resigned today on “moral grounds”. “Allegations against me are far from the truth. Clear investigation is needed. I’ll come out innocent and I’m confident about it. I’m resigning on moral grounds and I request you to accept this,” Mr Jarkiholi said in his resignation letter. The BJP leader’s resignation was promptly accepted by Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa.
According to news agency PTI, Ramesh Jarkiholi, 60, who was Water Resources Minister, was asked to quit by his party leadership. Arun Singh, the BJP national general secretary in-charge of Karnataka, is said to have communicated the party’s decision to the state leadership, keeping in mind upcoming assembly elections in five states including neighboring Tamil Nadu and panchayat polls in Karnataka, PTI reported.
Balachandra Jarkiholi, his brother and BJP MLA, has sought a CBI probe into the allegations and has threatened to file a ₹ 100 crore suit against those who released the “fake CD”.
The said video was widely aired by Kannada news channels as a sex-for-jobs scandal, apparently showing the Karnataka minister getting intimate with an unidentified woman.
“The identity of the woman who they claim has faced injustice is not known. Someone gives the complaint claiming her relatives insisted on it… taking such a complaint is wrong because the affected person has to make the complaint, not just anyone from the street,” Balachandra Jarkiholi said, defending his brother.
Just ahead of the budget session of the Karnataka assembly starting tomorrow, the allegation comes as a huge embarrassment to the BS Yediyurappa-led BJP government.
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