BS Yeddyurappa sheds tears in jail while watching Bangalore Metro inaugration

BANGALORE: As Bangalore's celebrated an early Diwali gift, one man shed tears, more so because he was part of the mega venture. BS Yeddyurappa lost the privilege of being on the spot for the historic moment as he is in jail.

Jail sources said Yeddyurappa, who backed the project to the hilt during his three-year tenure as CM, was glued to a TV set, watching the live telecast of the inaugural function and shed tears. ''He felt quite choked watching the Metro inaugural run. It's been a difficult year for him and anyone who has been a CM knows such events can bring a lot of emotions and nostalgia,' they added.

He watched the telecast in the company of former minister Katta Subramanya Naidu's son Katta Jagadish and talked about his contribution in the early days of the project, sources said.

Touted as one of his pet projects, Yeddyurappa earmarked about Rs 3,200 crore in his three budgets as CM. He was keen it be launched during his tenure and periodically monitored its progress. Soon after coming to power in mid-2008, Yeddyurappa was unhappy with the pace in which work was progressing. Within a few days, he got V Madhu transferred as managing director of BMRC and brought in N Sivasailam. ''Yeddyurappa's support was immense. Otherwise, I don't think the project would have been launched so early,'' law and parliamentray minister S Suresh Kumar said.