Laxmi Hebbalkar
Credit: DH Photo
Bengaluru: The Opposition BJP on Tuesday sought Women & Child Development Minister Laxmi Hebbalkar’s resignation, claiming that the second division assistant (SDA) who allegedly died by suicide had named her aide.
SDA Rudranna was found hanging at the tahsildar’s office in Belagavi on Tuesday.
“Having been in pain for several days, Rudranna had spoken of dying by suicide in a WhatsApp message.
He has said that Laxmi Hebbalkar’s PA Somu is responsible for his death,” BJP general secretary N Ravikumar told reporters.
Drawing parallels between the deaths of Chandrashekhar – an official at the Maharshi Valmiki Scheduled Tribes Corporation Limited – earlier this year and Rudrappa, Ravikumar said Hebbalkar should resign just as Eshwarappa had done.
He was referring to former BJP leader Eshwarappa’s resignation after the death of contractor Santosh Patil in April 2022. In a purported suicide note on WhatsApp, the contractor had directly blamed Eshwarappa for his death.
Training his guns on Waqf Minister Zameer Ahmed Khan, Ravikumar, said: “The government has left Zameer freely, so that whatever the Waqf Board does will be pardoned.”
Alleging that land issues related to the Waqf board existed in regions previously ruled by the Nizam, he said a joint legislative committee should be formed for a thorough investigation.