BSY a victim of trap he himself wove

BANGALORE: What Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa intended to tame the rivals in party and government with turned out to be a ‘trap for himself’. Yeddyurappa volunteered to extend the scope of the Karnataka Lokayukta which was investigating the illegal export of iron ore from the state beyond January 2000 to 2006, and the same office has got him in a fix now.Yeddyurappa, who was humbled by his own partymen and Cabinet colleagues after dissident activities erupted within the first year of his office, had made a suo motu statement in both the houses of the Karnataka Legislature that the scope of the Lokayukta probe would be extended till 2010, covering his term too.The CM, who was viewed by the Opposition parties as ‘helpless’ in preventing the illegal mining of iron ore in Bellary district, had also announced a ‘special levy’ of ` 500 per truck which carries iron ore, in the floor of the House besides enlarging the scope of the Lokayukta investigation.This move which seemed to help him establish the lost control over his powerful ministers from Bellary district, G Janardhana Reddy and Sriramulu, considered as the mining czars in the state, also yielded desired result in severing the ‘source of revenue’ to his political rivals.The CM, besides taking measures to stop illegal mining and transportation of iron ore, tightened the loading and lifting of the dumped iron ore at various ports and plugged the inflow of revenue from the mining business undertaken by his cabinet colleagues involved in the trade.The bold attempt by the chief minister to establish control over the Bellary troika yielded desired results when he had transferred all key officials who had dug their feet deep in the district for many years allegedly at the behest of the mining Czars.However, despite all these efforts, the CM remained helpless when the Lokayukta officials found that his kin also tried their hand in the lucrative mining business and accepted largesse for showing favours to many mining companies.