Belagavi: George's return may not be so smooth

Belagavi: A confrontation is building up between the ruling Congress and the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party over the reinduction of former minister K.J. George in the state cabinet. Mr George had quit as minister a few months ago after he was named as one of the accused in the FIR filed in the DySP M.K. Ganapati suicide case, for allegedly abetting the suicide.

After the CID which probed the suicide case filed a ‘B’ report giving a clean chit to Mr George and two senior police officers, there is a clamour for his return to the cabinet. Leading the charge for Mr George are Chief Minister Siddaramaiah's senior cabinet colleagues, Rural Development and panchayat Raj Minister H.K. Patil and Social Welfare Minister H. Anjaneya.

On Sunday, opposition leader in the state Assembly Jagadish Shettar had made it clear that his party would oppose the reinduction of Mr George tooth and nail.

While demanding his induction into the cabinet at a press conference in Belagavi on Monday, Mr Patil and Mr Anjaneya said the ‘B’ report submitted by the CID in court giving him a clean chit has made it clear that Mr George did not commit any crime. A leader with high credibility, Mr George had to step down as a minister on moral grounds after his name was needlessly dragged into the suicide case of the police officer, said Mr Anjaneya adding that the CM should take the issue seriously and reinduct him in the cabinet.

Mr Patil, who is also the minister in-charge of the Karnataka-Maharashtra boundary dispute, briefed the media about the ongoing preparations of the state's legal team to fight the case when it comes up for hearing in the Supreme Court.

A vast database of information about the boundary dispute has been collected by the legal team to argue the case effectively, he stated.