Start anti-corruption campaign from Karnataka: Congress tells Advani

Chandigarh, Oct 16 (ANI): Slamming Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over its tainted leaders, Congress party spokesperson Manish Tewari said Lal Krishna Advani should have started its anti-corruption campaign from Karnataka where their party leader and former Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa is facing graft charges.

During an interaction with media here, Tewari made a sarcastic remark, saying that Advani should have started his 'Jan Chetna Yatra' from Bangalore rather than Sitabdiara, the birthplace of freedom fighter Jayaprakash Narayan.It is a very peculiar drama, on one side where the former state chief belonging to the BJP is struggling for bail and on the other hand the BJP is campaigning against corruption across the country by taking out the Jan Chetna Yatra. It would have been better and rightful had the BJP started their campaign from Bangalore," said Tewari.

He further said that the law would take its course and soon the real face of BJP would be unmasked before the country.

"Their ministers and administrative officials, they are tainted by the charges of corruption hence this is a peculiar and amazing irony. This will help reveal their real faces before the country," said Tewari.

Yeddyurappa, against whom an arrest warrant was issued in connection with cases regarding alleged irregularities in denotification of government lands, surrendered before the Lokayukta Court in Bangalore on Saturday.

Earlier, the special Lokayukta Court rejected the anticipatory bail and issued an arrest warrant against him.

The court also denied bail to Yeddyurappa's former ministerial colleague S N Krisnaiah Setty, but gave relief to 14 other accused including the former Chief Minister's sons B Y Raghavendra, Lok Sabha MP and B Y Vijayendra, and son-in-law Sohan Kumar.

Former Lokayukta Santosh Hegde's independent inquiry into mining graft in Karnataka, accused Yeddyurappa and other key officials for causing a loss of at least 160 billion rupees to the state exchequer between 2006 and 2010 from illegal mining and a series of abuses.

Yeddyurappa tendered his resignation on July 31 to Governor Hansraj Bhardwaj, following allegations of corruption, that was later accepted. (ANI)