PM, HM should quit first on Telecom issue, says Yeddyurappa

BANGALORE: Under attack from the opposition seeking his exit over the Lokayukta report on the mining scam, Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa on Tuesday said it is Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Home Minister P Chidambaram who should first quit on the telecom issue.

"Perhaps it's the Prime Minister and Home Minister who should quit first after what (A) Raja (former Telecom Minister) directly disclosed," the embattled Chief Minister told reporters. "They don't have moral right to continue in office".

Yeddyurappa's statement comes a day before Karnataka Lokayukta Justice N Santosh Hegde is slated to submit his final report on the mining scam although much of the findings are already in the public domain after last week's leak that indicted Yeddyurappa and four Ministers, among others.

The Chief Minister charged the Congress with harping on the "Karnataka issue" to cover up "central government scams".

"People have understood everything," he said. He said on the illegal mining issue, actually it's the the opposition Congress and JDS who should be in the dock as it was they who started and "looted it".