Karnataka minister K.S. Eshwarappa has been booked on the charge of abetting the suicide of a civil contractor who had accused him of demanding kickbacks for government projects.

But the BJP politician has dug in his heels and refused to resign, questioning the authenticity of the purported suicide note that names him.

The Opposition Congress held protests in Karnataka and New Delhi demanding the resignation of Eshwarappa, rural development and panchayati raj minister, and questioning the silence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other BJP leaders.

The family of the deceased contractor and BJP supporter, Santosh Patil, has refused to accept his mortal remains unless Eshwarappa and the two others they have named in the FIR are arrested.

Eshwarappa told a media conference in Bangalore on Wednesday that there was no question of resigning from the cabinet and instead cast aspersions on the purported suicide note that had been sent on WhatsApp.

Patil, 42, a native of Belgaum, was found dead in a hotel room in Udupi on Tuesday. He had accused Eshwarappa of demanding a 40 per cent cut to clear a Rs 4-crore bill for road work undertaken in a village in Belgaum.

Patil, who had earlier written to Prime Minister Modi alerting him to the alleged demand for a commission, had in his purported suicide note, sent via WhatsApp to some of Patil’s friends, said: “Rural development and panchayati raj minister K.S. Eshwarappa, who is responsible for my death, should get appropriate punishment.”

Udupi police on Tuesday booked Eshwarappa and his aides Basavaraj and Ramesh under IPC Sections 306 (abetment to suicide) and 34 (common intention), punishable with up to 10 years in jail with or without a penalty.

Eshwarappa, a powerful backward-class leader who is believed to nurse chief ministerial ambitions, played down the FIR. “What is the death note here? A WhatsApp message. I don’t know if he (Patil) had typed it or someone else did,” Eshwarappa said at the media conference.

Eshwarappa attributed his decision to stay on to chief minister Basavaraj Bommai and Karnataka BJP president Nalin Kumar Kateel.

“I have spoken to the chief minister and Kateel and they have asked me not to break my head over this. Not a single central leader has called me over this issue,” he said.

Chief minister Bommai iterated before reporters that he would take a decision after talking to Eshwarappa.

“I need to talk to him before arriving at a decision,” Bommai said in Mangalore. He was scheduled to return to Bangalore on Wednesday evening.

Bommai targeted the Opposition for blaming Eshwarappa for the death and said the investigation would bring out the truth. “The Opposition is trying to find fault with everything. The whole background of the incident will be known once the investigation is over,” the chief minister said.

Patil, a BJP worker and office-bearer of the Sangh parivar outfit Hindu Vahini, had written to Modi and met Union rural development minister Giriraj Singh, BJP general secretary in charge of Karnataka Arun Singh, and party organising secretary and RSS leader B.L. Santosh with his complaint against Eshwarappa and his associates.

Eshwarappa maintained on Wednesday that no work order had been issued to Patil and that he had never met the contractor.

Patil had claimed that he had started the projects based solely on Eshwarappa’s verbal assurances and without proper work orders or sanction letters.

“I want to clarify that any work in any department must have administrative and technical approval, sanction letter and a work order. The concerned government officials would supervise properly sanctioned works. Only then can a bill be cleared,” the minister said.

“I have never seen his face even once,” Eshwarappa added, commenting on Patil’s allegation that he had met the minister 80 times to get the bills cleared since his debtors were after him to recover the loans he had taken to complete 108 small civil projects last year.

Eshwarappa questioned Patil’s trip to Delhi where he had met Giriraj and other senior politicians. “Who paid for his air ticket to Delhi? He said he didn’t have any money,” the minister said.

“There should be a comprehensive investigation to find out who was behind him, who funded his Delhi trip, who wrote the suicide note, or rather the WhatsApp message.”

Patil’s brother Prashanth, who filed the FIR after visiting the hotel room in Udupi, said the accused should be arrested before the post-mortem is conducted.

“We will not allow shifting of the body to Manipal. We have already informed chief minister Basavaraj Bommai about our stand. We are fighting for justice and the decision has been taken for the peace of Santosh’s soul,” Prashanth told reporters in Udupi.

The Congress demanded Eshwarappa’s arrest and dismissal from the cabinet. In a letter to governor Thaawar Chand Gehlot, the party urged him to sack Eshwarappa from the ministry, have him booked for abetment of suicide — which the police later did — get a case registered under the Prevention of Corruption Act and have him arrested immediately.

Congress workers held protests in many parts of Karnataka.

In New Delhi, Youth Congress workers held a march demanding the sacking of Eshwarappa. The march, led by Indian Youth Congress president Srinivas B.V., started from the Sunehri Bagh circle and proceeded towards the residence of Union home minister Amit Shah. Delhi police barricaded the road and stopped the marchers. Many were detained.

Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala asked why Modi, Bommai and BJP president J.P. Nadda were silent on Patil’s death.

“Arresting minister Eshwarappa on murder and corruption charges is the only way to give justice to a BJP worker,” Surjewala said.

“Why is PM silent? Why is CM mum? Why is BJP president quiet? The deafening silence of BJP points to complicity in corruption at the highest echelons of power,” he tweeted.

“Top to bottom, the entire BJP Govt is mired in the muck of corruption. Time to show BJP the door in Karnataka.”

(Additional reporting by PTI)