Congress guns for Yeddyurappa, BJP hits back
July 21st, 2011 - 5:48 pm ICT by IANS
Bangalore/New Delhi, July 21 (IANS) The Congress Thursday demanded the immediate resignation of Karnataka Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa after the Lokayukta named him amongst those involved in illegal mining in the state.
“Yeddyurappa has no moral right any more to continue in office,” state Congress chief G. Parameshwara and leader of opposition in the assembly Siddaramaiah said in separate press meets.
But the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) hit back. Its spokesperson Prakash Javadekar asked in New Delhi what the Congress had done on the findings of the Delhi Lokayukta against its Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit on the Shunglu panel report probing irregularities in the Commonwealth Games.
He also sought to know the action taken on the Delhi Lokayukta recommendation against minister Rajkumar Chauhan in another case.
The Shunglu panel has “indicted the Dikshit government in the Commonwealth Games and Delhi Lokayukta has recommended to the president (of India) that action should be taken against her minister Rajkumar Chauhan in the Tivoli Garden case. Nothing has been done in the two cases. Let Congress first act on these”, Javadekar said.
As the battle lines were drawn between the two major political parties, the Reddy brothers and two other BJP ministers named in the Hegde report denied any involvement in illegal mining or export but said they were ready for any probe.
The Reddy brothers are Tourism Minister G. Janardhana and his elder sibling, Revenue Minister G. Karunakara. The other two ministers named in the report are their close associate and Health minister B. Sriramlu and a Yeddyurappa confidant V. Somanna, civil supplies minister.
Congress Rajya Sabha member Anil Lad too contested Hegde’s conclusions and said his firm was not into any illegal mining.
The other major political figure mentioned in the report, to be submitted by Hegde Friday, H.D. Kumaraswamy of the Janata Dal-Secular said his action in granting license to two firms for mining had not resulted in any financial loss to the state.
“I will wait for the full report to be officially out to give my detailed response to it,” Kumaraswamy, who was chief minister of the JD-S-BJP coalition in 2006-07, told reporters in Bangalore.
Yeddyurappa, the main character in the unfolding drama, is away in Mauritius on holiday with his family members. He is expected back July 24.
Besides Yeddyurappa, his two sons are mentioned in the report as having benefited from illegal mining.
- Double blow for Yeddyurappa: Faces illegal mining charge, court case (Roundup) - Jul 21, 2011
- Can't comment on unreleased Lokayukta report: BJP - Jul 21, 2011
- Yeddyurappa, others named in illegal mining report: Santosh Hegde - Jul 21, 2011
- Yeddyurappa charged with graft, stares at trial (Evening Lead) - Jul 27, 2011
- Hegde wants Yeddyurappa prosecuted for graft, BJP hit (Roundup) - Jul 27, 2011
- Congress targets BJP over Karnataka mining scam - Jul 21, 2011
- More political instability in store for Karnataka (Lead, Karnataka Newsletter) - Jul 21, 2011
- Congress demands action on Lokayukta phone tap - Jul 24, 2011
- An eventful Wednesday for Karnataka - Aug 03, 2011
- BJP demands Krishna's resignation over illegal mining - Dec 09, 2011
- Tensions heighten ahead of illegal mining report - Jul 27, 2011
- Yeddyurappa faces prosecution for graft, refuses to quit (Intro-Roundup) - Jul 28, 2011
- Karnataka to act against 600 officials over illegal mining - Oct 28, 2011
- Yeddyurappa says he won't quit, Gadkari to decide (Roundup) - Jul 25, 2011
- 25,228-page Lokayukta report names chief minister, predecessor - Jul 27, 2011
Tags: bjp, chief minister, civil supplies minister, commonwealth games, confidant, congress chief, elder sibling, health minister, irregularities, kumaraswamy, leader of opposition, lokayukta, moral right, president of india, rajkumar, rajya sabha member, revenue minister, sheila dikshit, state congress, tourism minister