BENGALURU: The heat from within the cabinet all but singed Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on why he continued to retain Bengaluru development minister K.J. George though he announced a judicial inquiry in addition to a probe by the CID into deputy superintendent of police MK Ganapati’s suicide even as sources in the government indicated that the minister would head to New Delhi on Thursday to seek the opinion of senior central leaders of Congress.

Mr Siddaramaiah managed a meeting of the Congress legislature party (CLP) well earlier in the day with none seeking Mr George’s resignation, but he had to endure attacks in both Houses of legislature with Opposition legislators staging a round-the-clock protest, and some senior ministers taking him to task for his double standards vis-a-vis action against ministers.

Some senior cabinet ministers quizzed him as to why he was firm on dropping some ministers during the recent reshuffle but was pussyfooting when it came to dealing with Mr George. “You can drop him and keep the slot open till the investigation is complete. Have you not done the same for Santosh Lad?" a senior minister reportedly asked the Chief Minister.

In fact, the stand of these ministers was the same as that of leaders of opposition parties as they too demanded Mr George’s resignation pending completion of the judicial probe. These leaders also dug their heels in on their demand for a CBI probe into the suicide of Mr MK Ganapati by launching an all nighter, minutes after Chief Minister Siddaramaiah announced a judicial inquiry on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Mr George who has a formidable task of redeeming his reputation, is likely to leave for New Delhi to meet central leaders of Congress. While some in the party said he would resign soon after his return, others felt that central leaders would come to his rescue.

How to make a killing from a 44 minute clip!
When Deputy Superintendent of Police (DySP) MK Ganapati wanted to tell his story to a particular TV channel on the day of his suicide in Madikeri on Thursday, he asked his auto-driver to take him to one particular television station.

The auto driver, unclear how to get to that TV station, took Ganapati to another television office where, on camera, Ganapati lashed out at the top police officers and the former home minister and the harassment he faced.

By that time, reporters from other channels who sniffed out a potential scandal, approached Ganapati and pleaded with him to give them the same news byte. Ganapati agreed to return for a recording in the afternoon.

Except, he took his own life at around 2 pm, minutes after calling his wife, with the 44 minute interview becoming one of the most sought after clips after news of Ganapati's suicide broke later that night.

Curiously, within hours, every single television channel was airing the same interview, claiming it was an exclusive! Bought and sold to all bidders, big and small?