The Left parties on Friday said Karnataka Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa should step down from office following his indictment by the Lokayukta in its report on illegal mining in the State.
Referring to the confirmation of the indictment by Justice Santosh Hegde, even though the report is not yet officially released, the Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) said: “With this indictment, Yeddyurappa has no other option but to resign from office.''
It said after the submission of the report, all those named for wrongdoing should be prosecuted under law.
The party also said the BJP leadership cannot prevaricate in this matter any more and should own full responsibility for instituting a government in Karnataka which is “riddled with the mining mafia and those patronising them.''
“No moral authority”
Taking a similar stand, the CPI said following the report the position of Mr. Yeddyurappa has become untenable. “He has no moral or constitutional authority to continue as the Chief Minister,'' CPI national secretary D. Raja said. Criticising the BJP, Mr. Raja said the party, which had been crying hoarse about corruption in the 2G spectrum allocation and CWG, remained silent on the issue in Karnataka.
“This is the height of hypocrisy and shows the double standards of the BJP,'' he said.
