Udupi: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister T B Jayachandra should resign from their posts for diluting the powers of Lokayukta, said S R Hiremath, anti-corruption activist and founder president of the Samaj Parivarthana Samudaya, on Monday, April 4.

He was in the city to participate in an interaction programme organised by the Udupi District Working Journalists Association.

Addressing the gathering, Hiremath said that it was Siddaramaiah as the Leader of the Opposition who had carried out a Padayatra from Bengaluru to Ballari against the mining scam and exposed corruption scandals of previous BJP government in the state. But now, by forming Anti Corruption Bureau, he has diluted the powers of Lokayukta, he alleged.

Lokayukta is considered as the most powerful and effective organisation in the country to curb corruption. Previous Lokayuktas such as N. Venkatachala and N. Santhosh Hegde had relentlessly tracked down corruption by government officials and elected representatives, he added.

Hiremath alleged that ACB would be under the State Cabinet and hence it would not be able to function independently.