By IANS,
Bangalore: The Congress Saturday staged a rally demanding resignation of Karnataka Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa who is facing a police probe into his alleged illegal land deals.
The probe by police attached to state Lokayukta (ombusdsman) is set to begin next week following a Bangalore court directive Thursday.
The Lokayukta, N. Santosh Hegde, a retired judge of the Supreme Court, Saturday said the police wing of the anti-corruption body will complete the probe by May 4 as directed by the court.
He also said there was no pressure on him or the police wing from any quarter regarding the probe that will begin next week after a complaint (First Information Report) is formally registered, most probably Monday.
“There is no pressure and we will not succumb to it if anyone tries to exert it,” Hegde told reporters on the margins of a function here.
Stepping up pressure on Yeddyurappa to quit following the court order for a police probe, the Congress leaders and workers gathered in front of the Mahatma Gandhi statue in the city centre carrying placards seeking the chief minister’s immediate resignation.
Led by state unit president G. Parameshwara, they raised slogans calling for Yeddyurappa’s resignation or his removal by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
The police probe was ordered by the Bangalore court hearing five private complaints over alleged corruption and illegal land deals by Yeddyurappa.
Besides Yeddyurappa, his two sons and a son-in-law are among those against whom the complaints have been filed.
His son B.Y. Raghavendra is a BJP Lok Sabha member from Karnataka.
Yeddyurappa has rejected the call for his resignation contending that no case has been made out and the court has only ordered a probe based on the complaint.