Congress and Left parties on Thursday demanded the resignation of Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa following his indictment by the state Lokayukta on illegal mining issue but a defensive Bharatiya Janata Party ruled out his stepping down.
"All the time we have been saying that illegal mining is going on and the Chief Minister and his ministerial colleagues are involved," Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee President, G Parameshwara said in Bangalore.
"Now, the (Lokayukta) report says the government itself is involved", he said. Noting that some 600 officials have also been named in the report, Parameshwara said, "It means almost the entire government is involved. Entire government, including cabinet ministers, chief minister and officials...this is a government-sponsored illegal mining."
"So there is no way that the chief minister should continue. He should immediately resign and dissolve the cabinet. Let's go before the people", he said. Terming the Lokyaukta report as a "serious indictment" of the chief minister, Left parties demanded his resignation saying the BJP leader has no moral authority to continue in office.
It's a very serious indictment and I think during this serious indictment the chief minister should not continue in his office," Communist Party of India - Marxist politburo member Sitaram Yechuri told reporters in Delhi. CPI Secretary D Raja said corruption charges were being "levelled continuously against Yeddyurappa for a long time.
Now the Lokayukta indictment has come. Yeddyurappa has lost all moral and constitutional right to continue as the chief minister. He has to step down or BJP should ask him to resign".
BJP, however, rejected the demand for Karnataka chief minister's ouster claiming Yeddyurappa had no "direct nexus" with mining activity. "No, not at all," BJP spokesperson V Dhananjaya Kumar said when asked if the chief minister would quit as demanded by Congress.
According to him, Congress had recently rejected a Delhi Lokayukta report indicting chief minister Sheila Dixit and "so is the case with Lokayukta of Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh".
"Congress party in power in all these states has consistently rejected the report submitted by respective Lokayuktas. There cannot be two yardsticks -- one for the Congress and one for the BJP", Kumar said.
