New Delhi: With Assembly polls in Gujarat
not far away, Congress on Wednesday utilized the High Court decision
on Lokayukta issue to the hilt to target BJP's poster boy
Narendra Modi saying any self-respecting Chief Minister would
have resigned immediately after the court rebuff.
It also projected Modi as being corrupt saying he opposed
the setting up of Lokayukta in the state to sweep corruption
issues under carpet and drew parallels with former Karnataka
Chief Minister BS Yeddyurappa, who had to step down due to
corruption cases against him.
"The High Court has severely stricture the Chief
Minister personally. His conduct has been found deviant,
autocratic, defiant and completely unbecoming of any
constitutional authority," party spokesperson Abhishek
Singhvi, who is also an eminent lawyer said.
He said that "any self-respecting CM would
have resigned immediately but we do not expect that to happen
since both respect for Constitutional authority as also the
self respect is missing here."
Taking the argument further, Gujarat PCC chief Arjun
Modwadia said Modi was "more corrupt" than former Karnataka
Chief Minister BS Yeddyurappa and therefore used "do or die
tactics" to prevent setting up of a Lokayukta in the state.
He alleged that Gujarat has witnessed scams of over Rs
one 1akh crore in the last five years itself.
Alleging that the BJP misled the government, Parliament
and the nation on the issue, Mohan Prakash, AICC in-charge
for Gujarat, said the Opposition party should "apologise to
the nation" and Modi government should step down if it has any
morality left in it.
Welcoming the verdict, Congress general secretary
Digvijay Singh said the order is a jolt to the Chief Minister
and that "many more such jolts will be there for Narendra
Modi". He added, "now everything is becoming clear. Modi, who
is the hero of BJP, himself wants to cover up corruption and
hence did not allow the setting up of a Lokayukta."
PTI
First Published: Thursday, January 19, 2012, 00:11