I thought it was okay to be absent: Singh

Anand Singh had walked 100 km when CM summoned him back to city immediately, for which a chopper was chartered and he flew back to stop point later to continue pilgrimage.

I thought it was okay to be absent: Singh

Anand Singh had walked 100 km when CM summoned him back to city immediately, for which a chopper was chartered and he flew back to stop point later to continue pilgrimage.

Safe landing: Anand Singh landed at Jakkur Air base at 12 pm, before
driving straight to Vidhana Soudha. Pics/Satish Badiger

Anand Singh began his walk from Bangalore two days ago and had covered about 100 km of the 250 km he had planned whenu00a0 he received a call. It was Chief Minister B Su00a0 Yeddyurappa who ordered him to halt his pilgrimage and fly back to Bangalore immediately to vote for actress Hema Malini, who was vying for a Rajya Sabha seat from the state as a BJP candidate.

Singh flew back to Bangalore in a chartered chopper and landed at Jakkur Air base at 12 pm, before driving straight to Vidhana Soudha and casting his vote.

The legislative assembly went for a by-poll yesterday to fill a Rajya Sabha seat that fell vacant after the recent death of sitting member M Rajashekhara Murthy.

Singh's legislator vote was of utter importance to the BJP, since the party had fielded the dream girl, while opposition parties were pitching in for noted Kannada scholar Professor K Marulasiddappa. "Walking from Bangalore to Tirupati is a custom I have been following since the past three years," said Singh.

Though Singh said there was no special reason for performing the ritual, sources close to him revealed that he was seeking divine intervention to ward off evils dogging him of late.

A staunch loyalist from the Reddy camp, Singh is caught up in an illegal mining scam that includes the Belekeri iron ore theft case and the more recent spat between him and his political godfather and Tourism Minister G Janardana Reddy. Another worry, sources state is the recent I-T raid that hit his company.

MiD DAY had carried a series of reports showing his company ILC Industries had lifted a quantity of iron ore seized by the forest department at Belekeri port before it was declared as theft. The reports even revealed that ILC Industries Ltd was a front company of Reddy-owned Obalapuram Mining Company.

"I thought it was okay to be absent, as we had enough numbers to win the elections. However, the CM was particular about me voting. So I returned and am now going back," said Singh. He took the same chopper to reach the spot where he had halted his walkathon and continued on, but the flying cost him at least Rs 2 lakh.

Bjp's Operation Lotus continues
It's believed that BJP poarchedu00a0 MLAs from the opposition, as Karadi Sanghanna, a JD(S) MLA, resigned as legislator yesterday to join the party. Two more MLAs, Subhas Guttedar and S K Basavarajan, both from the JD(S) are expected to follow suite shortly.

While five votes were invalid in the Rajya Sabha polling, it is suspected that these legislators were deliberately faulted while voting so that Hema Malini's win would be easier. Seething JD(S) leaders are mulling hitting back at the BJP, and resignation it seems is one option.

Cake walk for Dream girl
Winning the Rajya Sabha polls as a BJP candidate was a walk in the park for Hema Malini as the party has a comfortable majority in the assembly. She bagged 106 votes, while Marulasiddappa, the opposition candidate, got 94 votes and five votes were invalid.

"I have a sense of belonging with Karnataka as I shot for many films here. I will work hard for the welfare of the state, and tourism and culture will be my areas of interest," she said.

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