The Congress on Wednesday slammed the principal opposition Bharatiya Janata Party for remaining silent on allegations of Karnataka chief minister B S Yeddyurappa and his aides trying to influence the state Lokayukta Santosh Hegde to remove the CM's name from his report on illegal mining.

On July 18, it was reported by a Karnataka newspaper that  BJP leader and formers state finance minister V Dhananjay Kumar Alva had met Hegde and asked him to refrain from naming Yeddyurappa.

Congress spokesman Shakeel Ahmed demanded a befitting explanation from the BJP on what actions would be taken by the BJP against Yeddyurappa, if they agree with the Lokayukta allegations.

"BJP's silence on this matter is surprising. In this matter, we hope that the national leadership of BJP, which has been praising the Lokayukta till now, do they agree to his remarks or not? And if they agree then what action are they taking against their party leaders? We hope that the answers to these questions will be given by the national leadership of BJP," said Ahmed, while addressing the mediapersons in New Delhi.

B K Hariprasad, Congress general secretary, also reacted on the issue.

He said, “The only reason for Yeddyurappa’s survival is delayed action by Lokayukta.”

He was also critical of Lokayukta Hegde saying that he had submitted his report at the end of his tenure as the state ombudsman. He said that the Congress was watching the "drama unfold" and was waiting to see if the Hegde acted as mandated or took directions from his "father-figure", BJP leader L K Advani.