Former Minister Ramesh Jarkiholi, who had to resign over a CD scandal in March earlier this year, has intensified political lobbying to get back into the Cabinet over the last one week. However, his future hangs in a balance as the party top brass has ruled out his re-induction without a clean chit in the case.
With the Karnataka High Court monitoring the probe closely, a reprieve is unlikely soon, sources said.
A Division Bench of the High Court, hearing multiple petitions pertaining to the case, on June 25, issued oral directions to the State Advocate-General to ensure the Special Investigation Team (SIT) does not file a closure report into the probe.
SIT chief Soumendu Mukherjee, who has been on medical leave for nearly two months now, has extended leave by another month.
The SIT, on June 18, sought more time to complete the probe. It is likely to submit a status report to the High Court on Monday. The SIT is likely place on record all the evidence they have gathered in the case before the High Court. The future of the case will depend on the directions by the High Court over the matter, sources in the SIT said, adding that this essentially means no immediate relief for the former Minister.
However, Mr. Jarkiholi seems to have only intensified political lobbying for his re-induction. He seems to have left no stone unturned – from threatening to quit as a legislator to lobbying with the central leadership to take him back. He was in New Delhi again on Tuesday trying to meet a host of central leaders of the party. He is known to have met senior party leaders in Mumbai recently.
Over the last two days, there has been a growing chorus from among defectors and other leaders seeking assurance of his reinduction. While Ministers Umesh Katti and K.C. Narayana Gowda assured Mr. Jarkiholi would soon be made a Minister again, his brother Balachandra Jarkiholi has demanded the same.
“When he resigned as Minister over an allegation, he cannot be reinducted into the Cabinet without being cleared of that allegation. But he must concentrate on the legal fight and get his name cleared at the earliest, rather than lobby politically,” said a senior party leader.
