Governor submits report on land scam to President
The 29-month-old Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government led by chief minister B S Yeddyurappa is in trouble again. This time, a group of 15 members of legislative assembly (MLAs) who are unhappy with the recent cabinet reshuffle have launched a fresh challenge against the Yeddyurappa government.
The MLAs under the leadership of excise minister M P Renukacharya held talks in a resort outside the city to work out a new strategy. Soon after their meeting, Yeddyurappa also held closed door meeting with BJP’s state unit president K S Eshwarappa, ministers loyal to him at a guest house in Jayanagar and later met senior RSS functionaries and discussed steps to deal with the situation.
The dissidents, who were away in Tamil Nadu, had switched-off their cell phones and remained incommunicado, as desperate attempts were made to reach to them.
Talking to reporters, Eshwarappa said that some MLAs had met for tea together and there was no threat to the government. “There is no dissidence, it’s only a rumour,” he said.
He, however, admitted that some legislators who did not get ministerial berths are dissatisfied and discussions would be held with them. The government was not facing instability, Eshwarappa said.
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Today’s developments on dissident activity came even as the BJP government faced land scam allegations in recent days as a spirited opposition — the Congress and the JD(S) — tried to corner Yeddyurappa and the Minister for Information Technology, Biotechnology and Housing, Katta Subramanya Naidu.
Eshwarappa said, an emergency cabinet meeting would be held at 10 am tomorrow. He also ruled out any move now against Naidu, facing allegations relating to denotifying of land of Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board (KIADB) when he was industries minister, saying action would be taken only if charges were proved by the court and he was named by Lokayukta.
Meanwhile, leaders of the JD(S), under the leadership of state unit president and former chief minister H D Kumaraswamy, held a meeting in the backdrop of the dissident activity in the BJP.
Talking to reporters separately, Leader of Opposition in the Legislative Assembly and Congress leader Siddaramaiah called Yeddyurappa a “liar” and “irresponsible” and likened his Cabinet to “Ali Baba and 40 thieves”, in the context of land scam allegations against the government. “If the chief minister has an iota of respect, he should quit immediately,” Siddaramaiah said.
In another related development, Karnataka Governor H R Bhardwaj today submitted a report on alleged irregularities in payment of compensation to land owners by Karnataka Industrial Area Development Board (KIADB) to President Pratibha Patil.
“I have taken note of the various controversies on the KIADB scam. I have informed the Central government about it and submitted a report to President Pratibha Patil, a copy of which has also gone to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh,” he told reporters here.
Bhardwaj said he was not informed by the state government about the scam. “I came to know about it (scam) through media reports. I sought information from the secretariat about it. On the basis of the information furnished by the state secretariat and the media reports, I have submitted the report,” he said on the sidelines of the 56th Wild Life Week Celebrations here.