Mysore MP A S Viswanath today took on Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa and Janata Dal (S) chief H D Deve Gowda on the issues of separate agricultural budget and the Nandi Infrastructure Corridor (NICE) respectively.
Criticising the chief minister, he said Yeddyurappa’s proposal for a separate farm budget was nothing short of divisive tactic from the corruption charges he is facing. “In order to divert the attention of the farmers, he is saying he would bring forth a separate budget for agriculture. But, where are the resources for a separate budget,” he questioned.
Describing the proposal as ‘ridiculous’, Viswanath charged the BJP government of totally neglecting the Agriculture Department where, he said, 60 per cent jobs were lying vacant.
“The Government has totally forgotten the existence of the Agriculture Department. Yeddyurappa and the Agriculture Minister should first review the working of the department,” he said at a press conference.
Charging the BJP Government of failing to utilise funds allocated by the Centre for various programmes and projects, the MP said since 2009 it had allocated Rs. 19,064 crore. But not even 20 per cent of this amount had been utilised.
Chief Minister Yeddyurappa described both the proposal of the chief minister and the opposition for NICE by the former Prime Minister as ‘gimmicks’. “They are the two faces of the same coin,” the Lok Sabha member said.
Viswanath charged Deve Gowda with raising the NICE issue at an opportune time to seek votes. He raised the issue when the elections to the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) or the Greater Bangalore City Corporation and was opposing the project again because of the by-election to the Channapatna Assembly constituency.
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“Once the elections are over, he will keep quiet,” he said. Saying that people were cursing Gowda for blocking the project that would help cut the travel time, he asked the former prime minister to keep quiet until the Supreme Court’s verdict.
He accused former Chief Minister and State JD (S) leader H D Kumaraswamy of ‘spoiling the political future of 16 legislators.’ In order to fight the case against their suspension, these former legislators were seeking financial help from Gowda.
“On the one side, Yeddyurappa claims that he is ‘Negila Yogi’ (a tiller with plough on the shoulder) and on the other Deve Gowda says he is ‘Mannina Maga’ (son of the soil). Both are misleading farmers,” the Congress leader criticised.
At a separate press conference later, Opposition leader Siddaramaiah charged that Yeddyurappa was escaping investigations into charges of corruption against him by various means.
While the Opposition demanded enquiry by the Lok Ayukta, he had appointed Padamaraj Jain Commission knowing that such an enquiry would take its own time by when his term as CM would be over.
To expose the misdeeds of his and his Government, Siddaramaiah said the Congress had organized a ‘Nada Rakshana’ (Save the State) rally in Mysore on February 20, the third after Bangalore and Gulbarga, in which over a lakh people were expected to attend. Several top leaders would address.