Ahmedabad: Gujarat Congress on Saturday demanded resignation of state Cabinet Minister Babu Bokhiria after a court in Porbandar sentenced him to three years imprisonment in the Rs 54 crore illegal limestone mining case of 2006. "We demand immediate resignation of the Gujarat Water Resources Minister who has been convicted by a court in Porbandar for three years in an illegal limestone mining case," Leader of Opposition in the Assembly Shankarsinh Vaghela told reporters in Ahmedabad.
"The ministers in the state government are corrupt and criminals," Vaghela alleged, adding that, one minister was behind bars (referring to Amit Shah) under Section 302 of the IPC and another (Parshottam Solanki) is facing corruption charges in a fisheries scam. "In Karnataka, Lokayukta exposed the role of former chief minister BS Yedyurappa in a case of illegal mining. He had to resign and BJP was ousted from power," he said. If there was a Lokayukta in Gujarat, not a single state government minister would have been spared, he said, adding that the state was not leading in development but in corruption.
"If Bokhiria does not resign, we will start a movement," Gujarat Congress chief Arjun Modhwadia said. Another Congress leader, Shaktisinh Gohil said, "When allegations are made against any minister of UPA government, BJP stalls Parliament, does not allow it to function and demands resignation of minister on moral grounds". "Bokhiria was chargesheeted before last year's Assembly elections. But still he was given the ticket and after his victory, he was given a Cabinet berth," Gohil said. Taking potshots at Narendra Modi, he said the Chief Minister tours the entire country and talks about effective governance, good administration and development model, but has inducted a corrupt minister in his Cabinet.
He claimed that the state government has made no recovery related to mining for the last ten years and given the mining mafia a free run in Porbandar and adjoining areas. Bokhiria, along with former Congress MP Bharat Odedara, alleged gangster Bhima Dula Odedara, who is behind bars in a murder case, and his son Lakshman Dula Odedara, who is chairman of Porbandar marketing yard, were on Saturday sentenced to three years imprisonment and fined Rs 5,000 each for their role in the illegal limestone mining case.
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