The opposition Congress is ready to extend all cooperation to the BJP government if it is prepared to provide more teeth to the Lokayukta by bringing an amendment to the Lokayukta Act, leader of the opposition party in Karnataka legislative assembly, Siddaramaiah said.
“We are ready to extend our full cooperation to the government if they are prepared to give more powers to the Lokayukta by bringing an amendment to the Lokayukta Act” he told reporters here today.
Blaming the BJP government led by B S Yeddyurappa for the resignation of Karnataka Lokayukta, Santosh Hegde, Siddaramaiah said “it is the BJP government led by Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa’s callous and non-cooperative attitude which is solely responsible for Hegde’s resignation”.
He further charged that it was “Yeddyurappa’s protection of corrupt officials, corrupt ministers and those who are looting the natural resources of the state that led to Hegde’s resignation”.
Terming Lokayukta’s resignation as a “slap on the face of the BJP government”, Siddaramaiah slammed the “nonchalant reaction” of Yeddyurappa and his cabinet colleagues to Hegde’s resignation, and said “it looks as if the government was waiting for this (resignation)”.
Pooh-Poohing Yeddyurppa’s statement that there was no illegal mining in the state he sought an answer to the affidavit filed by Deputy Conservator of Forests (DCF) of Karwar R Gokul wherein he has stated that almost 5 million metric tons of iron-ore (worth over Rs 2,500 crore) was being illegally exported from Belekeri port in Uttara Kannada district.
Siddaramaiah charged Yeddyurappa of doing a “volte-face on illegal mining as earlier he himself had admitted that forest resources worth crores of Rupees was being looted and expressed his helplessness about it”.
“Though Reddy brothers may be looting the state, since the Chief Minister is holding the portfolios of forests, mines and geology, he is directly responsible for the illegal mining”, he said.
Further releasing a booklet, which takes a dig on the two year-governance of the BJP government, titled “Failures are the achievements: 730 days of failure”, Siddaramaiah alleged that the BJP government had spent over Rs 100 crore for Global Investors’ Meet (GIM) and “Sadhana Samavesha”, a convention to celebrate two-year governance of the BJP government.
Dubbing Yeddyurappa getting emotional at the convention, as “nothing but a drama to mislead the people and gain their sympathy”, he said “I don’t know why he shed tears on such an occasion, may be because he felt guilty of covering up the numerous failures of his government”.
Flaying the government for reneging all its promises whether it was providing electricity to the farmers or houses for the flood-victims, Siddramaiah alleged that out of Rs 1,698.80 crore calamity funds that state government received from the centre and Rs 395 crore which Chief Minister himself collected during his padayatras, “only Rs 1,640 crore has been spent”.
Ridiculing Yeddyurappa for his repeated statements about the “good financial position of the state” he said it was far from truth and pointed out that the debt burden had increased to Rs 85,000 crore from Rs 30,000 crore in 2004-05 while the fiscal deficit had also increased to over 4 cent from 2.42 per cent during the Krishna government. The revenue surplus has come down to less than Rs 500 crore from over Rs 4,000 crore while the buoyancy of taxes has also seen a dip to 5 per cent from over 29 per cent earlier. “It does not become of Yeddyurappa to suppress the figures, the truth”, Siddramaiah said.
Reacting to Yeddyurappa’s criticism of the opposition’s non cooperation, he shot back “should we cooperate with him in his failures and corruption. We have always cooperated with him on developmental works and on any issue concerning the interest of the state”.
