Girlfriend Shobha Karandlaje almost led to BS Yeddyurappa downfall

NEW DELHI: A cable from the American consulate in Chennai claimed that the first BJP chief minister in south India, B S Yeddyurappa, faced the prospect of being unseated in November 2009 when his "girlfriend" (the then minister in his cabinet Shobha Karandlaje) brought the government to the brink.

The cable, as disclosed by Wikileaks, termed Karandlaje as someone who "doubles as Yeddyurappa's girlfriend". It, however, did not forget to mention that the then chief minister was a widower.

Referring to the then state tourism minister Janardhana Reddy's attempt to unseat Yeddyurappa in November 2009, an American diplomat in his report to Washington said, "Publicly, Reddy maintained that the main reason for his demand that Yeddyurappa resign as chief minister was the favouritism shown to Shobha Karandlaje, the minister for rural development and the only woman in the cabinet who doubles as Yeddyurappa's girlfriend. (Yeddyurappa is a widower)." The diplomat added, "Others have told us, however, that the real reason for the insurrection was Reddy's desire to protect his core business, iron ore mining."

Referring to the episode in the cable , the US diplomat said, "The peace deal, however, is seen as a big loss for the chief minister. Apart from his girlfriend and aide's removal, he has also been forced to rescind the transfer of key officials who were suspected to have helped uild the Reddy brothers' business empire."