'Modi fears Lokayukta will expose his corruption'

Gujarat Congress on Tuesday accused the state government of indulging in large scale corruption and alleged that Chief Minister Narendra Modi had not appointed a Lokayukta to prevent the truth from coming out.

"Gujarat has a law to have a Lokayukta since 1986 but the Modi government has not appointed the Lokayukta since last seven years to suppress the corruption by the government," state Congress president Arjun Modhvadia told mediapersons in Rajkot.

"The state government is indulging in a lot of corruption. Modi does not want a Lokayukta to be appointed for Gujarat so that he can hide the corruption cases involving himself and his ministers," he said on the sidelines of the party's 'Pol Khol' campaign in Rajkot.

Modhvadia said the state government was anti-farmer and anti-poor, and allotted huge tracts of land meant for them to industrialists.

He said his party has collected documentary evidence of corruption by the Modi government and has submitted it recently to President Pratibha Patil.

Congress general secretary Mohan Prakash, who is in-charge of Gujarat affairs, alleged top BJP leaders were involved in illegal mining.

Karnataka CM Yeddurappa had to resign following a Lokayukta report but truth is that BJP's top leaders are involved in illegal mining, he alleged.

Modhvadiya and Mohan Prakash were in Rajkot to flag off Congress MP Kunvarji Bavaliya's "padyatra" from Jasdan town to Somnath to create communal harmony.