BENGALURU: On his first visit to the state after being appointed as AICC General Secretary in charge of Karnataka, Randeep Singh Surjewala went all guns blazing against the state government and accused it of being “engulfed in corruption”. He demanded Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa’s resignation over graft charges against his family members in a Bengaluru Development Authority (BDA) project.
“Judicial probe headed by a sitting Supreme Court judge or High Court Chief Justice has to be ordered to look into the allegations,” said Surjewala at his first press conference on taking over, flanked by Opposition Leader in the Assembly Siddaramaiah, KPCC president DK Shivakumar and other senior Congress leaders.
Surjewala, Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar took turns at making allegations against the CM’s family members, citing documents which they said were obtained by a private television channel during a sting operation. Sources close to the CM have refuted the charges as baseless.
Questioned about the authenticity of the documents, the Congress leaders said the information is in the public domain and it needs to be thoroughly probed.
The AICC General Secretary said the party has also decided to take up the issue in the Assembly and Council during the ongoing legislative session. “There is misgovernance and rampant corruption in the state and the party will go to the people's court,” he added.
Sources in the Congress said Surjewala will be back in the state on Sept 27 and 28 to hold meetings with party leaders.