Yeddyurappa asks Sonia Gandhi to provide proof of allegations

Hitting back at Congress President Sonia Gandhi for hurling charges of corruption against him, Karnataka chief minister BS Yeddyurappa on Tuesday shot off a letter to her asking her to provide proof for her allegations.

"The charges against me are baseless and made with the intention of maligning my government", he said, a day after Gandhi lashed out at BJP leaderhship for not acting against Yeddyurappa despite corruption charges against him.

In his letter to Gandhi, copies of which were released to the media in Bangalore, he said "I would like to know whether there is any proof or evidence to prove these charges and if there is any, I request you to send the same to enable me to place the record straight".

"All that is said of me and my government are only allegations and there is no prima-facie case made out, unlike in the 2G Spectrum and other scams faced by the UPA", Yeddyurappa, who is under attack for his alleged acts of nepotism and favouritism, said and demanded Congress agree to a JPC probe into the 2G Spectrum scam.

Yeddyurappa said former Prime Minister HD Devegowda and Congress leader Siddaramaih, while he was in JD(S), had levelled several allegations against SM Krishna when he was chief minister over irregularities in denotification of lands and asked whether Congress would order a probe into it now.

A report by lok ayukta into illegal mining has indicted former chief minister and senior Congress leader N Dharam Singh for causing about Rs26 crore loss to the state exchequer, he pointed out and wondered whether Congress would ask Singh to make good the loss.

Taking on the opposition at the Congress Parliamentary Party meet for stalling Parliament proceedings on the 2G scam issue, Gandhi had slammed the BJP on the issue of corruption and referred to the party's decision to allow Yeddyurappa to continue despite the charges of corruption in land allotment.