New Delhi:  Opposition leader Siddaramaiah has said that Yeddyurappa who has no courage to float a new party was only blackmailing his party high command.

Speaking to reporters in New Delhi, the Congress leader said Yeddyurappa’s influence in the state politics was fast fading. On this occasion he said he would appeal for a thorough probe into the statement of former BJP MLA Lakshminarayana that crores had passed hands for Operation Lotus.

If Sriramulu had earlier stated that he had provided Rs 200 crores to the party, now Lakshminarayana too has said he had spent crores for the bye-polls, BBMP polls and Operation Lotus. As the BJP men themselves had said so, there is need for a probe, he argued.