Bangalore, May 30 : Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa today endorsed the statement made by senior BJP leader Sushma Swaraj that she did not influence anyone in the induction of mining barons and Reddy brothers and said he had inducted them after consulting the party high command.
“Correct”, he said when asked to comment on Swaraj's remarks in an interview to a weekly that she had nothing to do with the political rise of the Reddy brothers—Janardhan and Karunakar—and their induction in the state cabinet.
Swaraj, perceived to be close to the mining magnates, had also said that the Reddy brothers were inducted into the cabinet when Arun Jaitley was in charge of party affairs in Karnataka and M Venkaiah Naidu and Ananth Kumar had been sent to Karnataka as central observers for cabinet-formation.
BJP President Nitin Gadkari had said on Saturday that there was no question of any individual or individuals influencing the choice of ministers in the state. PTI
