Bengaluru, Sep 27 (IANS): The Karnataka Assembly on Saturday witnessed a verbal duel between Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa and Congress leader Siddaramaiah over corruption charges against the former.

Yediyurappa asked Siddaramaiah to prove the corruption allegations against him or his family members or resign from the post of Leader of the Opposition.

Speaking on the no-confidence motion against his government, Yediyurappa said: "If Siddaramaiah proves even a single charge against me or my family members, I will resign from public life. Will you do the same (resign from public life) if you (Siddaramaiah) fail to prove the allegations against me?"

B S Yediyurappa (left) and Siddaramaiah

Yediyurappa added: "Are you not aware of the rules? One is not supposed to make allegations against a person who is not a member of this House. This is the basic rule which we ourselves have made. How can you, such a senior leader, break this rule?"

When the ruling BJP lawmakers started raising slogans against Siddaramaiah, Yediyurappa asked party members to remain silent as, he said, he was capable enough to handle such cases personally.

"Let him (Siddaramaiah) make allegations. I have all the gumption to reply back," he said while instructing his party MLAs to remain silent.

When Siddaramaiah continued to level charges against Vijayendra, the Chief Minister remarked: "You (Siddaramaiah) should be ashamed of yourself. You are not supposed to make allegations against a person who is not a member of the House. You prove the allegations or resign."

Accepting the Karnataka Chief Minister B. S. Yediyurappa's challenge, the leader of the Opposition Siddaramaiah on Saturday asserted that if the Special Investigation Team (SIT) headed by a Supreme Court judge fails to prove the charges, he would resign then.

Speaking during the no-confidence motion here, Siddaramaiah said that his demand is that the state government should order for the SIT and let the government agree for it. "If the SIT fails to prove allegations raised in these sting operations, then I will resign," he declared.

Siddaramaiah affirmed that he does not know who Vijayendra is, or Shashidhar Maradi who frequently figure in the sting operation by TV. "Why are you (ruling party members) all getting agitated whenever I take Vijaynedra's name? Who is he," he chided.

He added that he had not made any derogatory or defamatory allegations or statements here. "I have not linked Vijayendra to Yediyurappa in my entire speech. Why are these ruling party members getting agitated?" he questioned.

Meanwhile, Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister J. C. Madhuswamy said that there is no question of allowing this debate to take place. "As the opposition parties, you have all the authority to criticize and reprimand for our government failures. The Opposition cannot waste the precious time of Assembly by raking up contents of a sting operation conducted by TV," he argued.