The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party in Karnataka, which has been rocked by a series of allegations of unfair land allotments to the family members of Chief Minister B. S. Yeddyurappa, received another jolt on Wednesday.
The Janata Dal (Secular) released a fresh set of documents in support of its case and demanded the Chief Minister's resignation.
With this, the campaign by the Opposition, ahead of the crucial elections to taluk and zilla panchayats, seeking the resignation of Mr. Yeddyurappa has gained momentum.
Only on Tuesday, did Pradesh Congress Committee president G. Parameshwara demand Mr. Yeddyurappa's resignation over his alleged involvement in the land denotification and allotment scam.
Mr. Yeddyurappa has defended the allotment of land to his sons, saying he has abided by the rules.
The Chief Minister has announced a judicial probe into the allegations by a retired Supreme Court judge.
Kumaraswamy's charge
Releasing the documents at a press conference here, JD(S) State president and Member of Parliament H. D. Kumaraswamy accused Mr. Yeddyurappa of involvement in land scams worth several thousand crores of rupees during his 30-month tenure.
Mr. Kumaraswamy said these included unfair allotment of land for housing sites and industrial purposes to the Chief Minister's family members.
The JD(S) would raise the issue in the Lok Sabha, he added.
Meanwhile, Karnataka Lokayukta N. Santosh Hegde said he could not order a suo motu probe into the allegations without a formal complaint.
The BJP state leadership has, however, sought to play down the issue.
Not a scam: BJP
A senior party leader told The Hindu that these instances could not be called scams but were rather cases of nepotism that previous Chief Ministers also resorted to. “If these are scams, what prevents the Opposition parties from filing complaints with the Lokayukta or approaching the courts?”
