BJP's friend-turned-foe JD(U) today demanded the resignation of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi in the wake of allegations of illegal spying on a woman in 2009 and joined the Congress in asking for a probe by a sitting Supreme Court judge into the issue.
"The then Karnataka Chief Minister Rama Krishna Hegde had to step down following similar allegations. Till the time Modi's name is not cleared, he should step down," JD(U) General Secretary K C Tyagi told reporters here.
He said a sitting judge of the apex court should investigate the case, a demand also raised by Congress women leaders including Union Ministers Girija Vyas and Jayanti Natrajan.
He also demanded action against CBI and IB officials for keeping the taped conversation under wraps. "They are obviously in connivance with Modi. Strict action is required to be taken against them," he said.
He dubbed as "utterly unethical" the use of state machinery and the ATS to "snoop on the private life of a young woman".
He said the incident showed that democratic norms in Gujarat have suffered under the rule of Narendra Modi.
JD(U) had parted ways with BJP in June on the issue of projecting Modi as the Prime Ministerial candidate.
Tyagi also demanded that the bail of former Gujarat minister and Modi's aide Amit Shah be cancelled immediately.
"He (Modi) may be the PM candidate of BJP. But he certainly is not PM material," Tyagi said.
