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Summary Indias southern Karnatakas tainted state chief tenders resignation to party.
BS Yeddyurappa, tainted chief of Indias southern Karnataka state, tendered resignation to his party on Sunday (July 31), after he was indicted by the provincial Ombudsman in a multi-billion dollar mining scam.BY Raghavendra, son of Yeddyurappa, said his father had faxed his resignation to the party high command, Nitin Gadkari early on Sunday morning.He (B S Yeddyurappa) has already resigned from his office today morning. He has faxed his resignation to the high command, said Raghavendra.The BJP had previously asked and advised Yeddyurappa to step down, saying that his continuance in office was untenable, after the provincial ombudsman N. Santosh Hegde, in a report, indicted Yeddyurappa for his involvement in the multi-billion dollar mining scam in Karnataka.Hegde after conducting an inquiry into mining graft in Karnataka had accused chief minister Yeddyurappa and other key officials for causing a loss of at least 160 billion rupees ($3.6 billion) to the state exchequer between 2006 and 2010 from illegal mining and a litany of abuses.The BJPs decision to remove a popular leader is a sign of lesser tolerance towards corruption in public life, after several large-scale protests were launched in different parts of the country during the summer, against the scams that had were exposed.The BJP had in recent months worn away the political authority of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh after a series of corruption cases involving government and party officials, were exposed. The party plans to take the government to task on matters of corruption in the parliament session that begins from Monday (01 August).However, dozens of lawmakers and deputies back Yeddyurappa, and they openly demanded that he should be elected as the party President of the BJP unit in the state.Moreover, Yeddyurappas supporters also claimed that he had the right to decide his successor.
