Janardhana Reddy case: Cong demands 'thorough inquiry' into driver's suicide

New Delhi: Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad on Wednesday demanded a "thorough inquiry" into the suicide of a driver who had accused former BJP minister in Karnataka Janardhana Reddy of illegally converting Rs 100 crore into white money.

"There should be a thorough inquiry as to why (the driver) committed suicide. There is big secret behind it. I request the state and central governments for full inquiry into the matter," Azad told reporters outside Parliament.

In his suicide note, K C Ramesh, the driver of a Karnataka Administrative Service (KAS) officer, had claimed that he got Rs 100 crore converted into white money for the mining baron for the marriage of his daughter.

The opulent wedding of Reddy's daughter days after the announcement of demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes had triggered a controversy.

On Hurriyat Conference's appeal to tourists to visit Kashmir Valley, Azad said the appeal was not made during the tourism season but at a time when there is no flow of tourists in winters.

"Nobody made the appeal when it was a tourism season which is in August-September. That time the atmosphere was bad (due to turmoil in the Valley). There is no flow of tourists in winter season," he said.

He hoped that next year such appeal would be made before the beginning of the tourism season so that the Valley could see surge in tourists arrival.

Azad also trained guns on BJP, saying the party forgets its own deeds when it comes to power and claimed that when the saffron party was in opposition, it had demanded the presence of then then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in Parliament during the discussion on 2G scam.

"This is a problem with BJP when it comes to power, it forgets. When a discussion was to be held on 2G, then BJP had put up a condition that Manmohan Singh should be present in Parliament. Singh was present for two days in Parliament and the discussion took place in his presence," he said.

On the controversy surrounding the appointment of Rakesh Asthana as the interim director of CBI, Azad said the selection committee should meet immediately and select a "full fledge" director.

He said the government has made "a habit" of continuing with interim appointments and that this was done in case of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) director also.

The Supreme Court on Wednesday agreed to hear on December 9 a plea challenging the appointment of Gujarat-cadre IPS officer Rakesh Asthana as the interim director of CBI.