Now it's Yeddyurappa's turn to land in jail: Congress

Attacking the Bharatiya Janata Party on illegal mining issue, Leader of the Opposition in Karnataka Assembly Siddaramaiah on Monday said it was the turn of former chief minister B S Yeddyurappa to go to jail after mining baron and former minister G Janardhana Reddy.

Delivering the valedictory address of the month-long 'Congress walk to the people' to highlight the "ill-deeds" of BJP rule, Siddaramaiah said that those involved in illegal mining should be jailed.

Reddy's alleged illegal mining activities damaged Karnataka's reputation as a strong economy and weakened the erstwhile Yeddyurappa-led government, he charged.

"Illegal mining activities brought Rs 20,000 crore loss to government's exchequer. This amount would have been enough to complete Almatti irrigation works," Siddaramaiah said.

The Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee president alleged that Yeddyurappa and another former chief minister H D Kumaraswamy, both facing charges of illegal mining, had brought shame to the state.

"These two former chief ministers have brought shame to the state, which was once dubbed as a model state when Congress was in power," Parameshwar said.

Accusing the central and state BJP leaders of being hand in glove with Reddy, he said they were now trying to wash off their hands by disowning him.

Parameshwar also accused the BJP government of putting the Lokayukta's report on illegal mining report in "cold storage" and demanded a Central Bureau of Investigation probe into illegal mining.

Siddaramaih brushed aside the allegations that Congress was responsible for Reddy's arrest. "The CBI is an independent investigative agency and Reddy was put behind bars for his mistakes," he said.