Congress cries foul over BSY; asks BJP to go

BANGALORE: A surcharged Congress in Karnataka Sunday urged the ruling Bharatiya

Janata Party (BJP) government to resign as it lost moral right to

continue after its scam-hit former chief minister B.S. Yeddyurappa was

jailed Saturday in two graft cases related to land scams during his over

three year tenure."The BJP's second government in the state,

headed by D.V. Sadananda Gowda, has no right to be in power anymore.

Gowda should resign, recommend dissolution of the state legislative

assembly and go for mid-term elections," Karnataka Pradesh Congress

Committee (KPCC) president G. Parmeshwar told reporters at Udupi, about

400 km from here.Charging Gowda of sheltering many tainted

ministers in his cabinet, Parmeshwar said with Yeddyurappa and former

BJP minister S.N. Krishnaiah Shetty joining BJP former ministers G.

Janaradhan Reddy and Katta Subramanyam Naidu in jail, the ruling party

"with a difference" had lost the goodwill of the people to continue in

power."Three-fourths of cabinet ministers in the Gowda

government are facing serious charges of cheating, forgery and

corruption. If the BJP has any respect for Constitution and democratic

rights of the people, it should seek a fresh mandate by dissolving the

assembly and hold elections at the earliest," Parameshwar asserted.Yeddyaurappa

and Shetty were sent to even-day judicial custody by the Lokayukta

(ombudsman) trial court on graft charges in the de-notification of lands

around Bangalore on a complaint filed by two city advocates after

Governor H.R. Bhardwaj sanctioned the then chief minister's prosecution.Mining

baron Reddy was arrested Sep 5 by the Central Bureau of Investigation

(CBI) at Bellary and jailed in Hyderabad for his alleged criminal

involvement in the multi-crore mining scam in Andhra Pradesh and

Karnataka, while Naidu was jailed for allegedly receiving Rs.85 crore

kickbacks for granting 385 acres of land to a software firm on the

outskirts of Bangalore.Yeddyurappa, who was the ruling party's

first chief minister in south India, resigned July 31 after he was also

indicted in the mining scam.Leader of Opposition Siddaramiah

also sought the dismissal of the Gowda government for failing to provide

a good administration and letting down the people on all fronts."Though

Gowda became chief minister over two months ago, the government has not

convened the assembly session to discuss issues confronting the state,

including the Lokayukta (ombdusman) probe report on the mining scam,

drought in half the districts across the state and crippling energy

crisis due to coal shortage and inefficient operation of thermal power

stations," Siddaramaiah said after meeting the governor at Raj Bhavan

here Sunday.Echoing Parameshwar, Siddaramaiah said the arrest of

Yeddyurappa, Shetty, Reddy and Naidu in graft cases and scams has

vindicated the Congress charge against the BJP government and its ruling

party was most corrupt and a disgrace to the 60 million people of the

state."What moral right has Gowda or the BJP has to be in power?

They have squandered the people's mandate and ruined the state's

economy, causing hardship to people reeling under power crisis,

infrastructure bottlenecks and a corrupt administration," Siddaramaiah

asserted.