Bangalore, Nov. 7: Karnataka chief minister B.S. Yeddyurappa’s gift of an elephant to a Kerala temple has put him in a spot, with animal activists waving the rulebook.

Before the elections that brought him to power five months ago, Yeddyurappa had prayed at the 3,000-year-old Rajarajeshwara temple in Kannur and promised to gift an elephant if his party won.

On Wednesday, the chief minister and his ministerial colleagues Shobha Karandlaje and Ramachandra Gowda visited the temple and handed over a nine-year-old elephant. The tusker had been gifted to Yeddyurappa by a Kochi temple.

The chief minister had earlier tried taking an elephant from Karnataka as gift to the Rajarajeshwara temple, but was dissuaded by forest department officials who cited a high court order. In 2002, the high court had banned gifting peacocks, elephants, deer and other animals to temples, maths or other organisations.

So, Yeddyurappa got the elephant as a gift from one Kerala temple to hand it over to another.

But in 2005, the National Wildlife Board headed by the Prime Minister had decided to bar heads of government and the administration from gifting elephants after a row erupted over Jayalalithaa’s donation of an elephant to Guruvayur temple.

Animal activists in the state have now complained to the Kerala chief wildlife warden, J.K. Tewari, who has asked the Kannur divisional forest officer to conduct an inquiry and submit a report.