Congress ups ante against tainted Gujarat minister

Upping the ante against tainted Gujarat minister Babubhai Bokhariya after he was convicted by a court in an illegal mining case, Congress leaders from the state petitioned President Pranab Mukherjee that he be dismissed.

"Bokhariya is convicted in a Rs.54-crore corruption case," Leader of Opposition in the Gujarat assembly Shankarsinh Vaghela told reporters about Gujarat's water resources minister.

Gujarat Congress leader Shaktisihn Gohil said the memorandum submitted by the party leaders mentions that Chief Minister Narendra Modi had "failed" to take action against the minister.

"Never in the history of India or Gujarat has a public servant or a minister continued to hold office even after being convicted," Gohil said.

Launching an attack on the BJP, Gohil said the party had raised morality issues when former railway minister Pawan Kumar Bansal's nephew's name came up in a corruption case, but did nothing when faced with a similar situation in Gujarat.

Gohil also took a dig at Modi's development model, saying: "If it was all so good and clean, why does he have 32 MLAs with serious criminal background?"