Mangalore violence echo: BJP Minister resigns

Karnataka’s Minister for Ports and Fisheries B Nagaraj Shetty, who is also the Minister in charge of Mangalore district, has resigned from the coalition Cabinet owning moral responsibility for the communal violence that rocked the coastal town of Mangalore recently.

After sending his resignation letter to Deputy Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa, which was also made available to the press, Nagaraj Shetty, a BJP Minister in the JD (S)-BJP coalition Government, has left for an undisclosed location and become incommunicado.

However, Yediyurappa told reporters that efforts would be made to convince Nagaraj Shetty to withdraw his resignation and continue in office. However, Nagaraj Shetty has made it clear that he would not change his mind and withdraw the resignation.

Nagaraj Shetty is also understood to have told party leaders that he was compelled to resign after he was slighted by Home Minister M P Prakash, who belongs to the JD (S), during the latter’s visit to Mangalore on Monday.

Prakash had not bothered to consult Shetty on the situation in Mangalore though he was the Minister in charge of Mangalore district. Prakash, who was closetted with senior police officials during his visit to the troubled town, left without meeting Shetty.

Nagaraj Shetty is also understood to have expressed his serious objection to the “unilateral” decisions taken by the Home Minister on Mangalore violence and his threat to take action against the pro-Hindu organizations that had given a call for Mangalore bundh, which led to the violence.

Nagaraj Shetty has complained to the party leaders that the police had arrested his followers in Mangalore based on the directions of the Home Minister.