Mangalore: No Compromise on Issue of Corruption, says Advani
Pics: Dayanand Kukkaje
Daijiworld Media Network - Mangalore (PS)
Update: 2.35 pm
Mangalore, Oct 31: "There can be no compromise on the issue of corruption. The extent of corruption is less in the nine BJP-led states, and hence there is no question of the Jan Chetna Yatra being an embarassment to the BJP," said senior BJP leader and former deputy Prime Minister L K Advani who landed at Mangalore airport on Monday October 31 morning by a special flight.
He was addressing a public gathering at Nehru Maidan in the city, as part of his nationwide Jan Chetna Rath Yatra against corruption. He arrived from Bangalore after addressing a public gathering there on Sunday October 30.
In his 45-minute speech, he said that he had better response from Karnataka to his Yatra than from any other state. He said he was advised not to enter Karnataka, but he was adamant and addressed the public in the state.
"Credibility is the biggest virtue in public life," he said, adding that he did not want to omit Karnataka despite the corruption scandals.
He also said that it was a cherishable moment when in 1968 Udupi became the first Jan Sangh city corporation in the then undivided Dakshina Kannada district. "I have seen the country's first general elections, seen many governments, and travelled through almost all districts, but never seen a government as corrupt as the present one led by Sonia Gandhi and Manmohan Singh," he added.
He also hailed the contributions of Sardar Vallabhai Patel, and lamented that the Congress had forgotten its great leader.
Taking potshots at the Congress, he said as many as 400 institutions in the country have been named after the Gandhi family, which goes against democratic principles and does no good to the nation.
On cash-for-votes scam, he said it had brought shame to the country. There were 19 MPs who were lured with bundles of currency notes, out of which three were from BJP. These three belonged to SC and ST communities, and they shared the issue with their partymen. They were advised to inform a TV channel, which carried out the sting operation, wherein the three ministers are shown accepting the money only as part of the sting. The three MPs were 'whistleblowers' who exposed the bribe money in the parliament, in front of the whole world, he said.
"India was known for its vibrant democracy, but then came a government (UPA) which had lost majority and was asked to prove itself in the parliament. It did so, by buying MPs who were sold for crores," he said.
If the Rs 25 lac crore of black money is brought back to the country, every village would have good roads, school, electricity and other basic amenities, he said.
A whistleblower protection act will come up soon which will give more powers to the citizens to fight against corruption, he said, adding that only acts will not work unless the youth take the initiative to fight against the menace. The UPA government arrested whistleblowers of the cash-for-votes scam, he said, adding that he had dared the ruling government in the parliament to arrest him in their place as he was the leader of the party that blew the whistle.
On the issue of Kashmir he said it was the British policy to divide and rule, but few people know that there were 550 princely states too which had the power to join either India, Pakistan or remain independent as per their wish. This was a British strategy to divide India not only into two countries, but ensure that it is splintered. He spoke at length about Jan Sangh founder Dr Shyam Prasad Mukherjee's sacrifices in making Kashmir a proper part of India, and added that if a solution had to be sought, one needs to go back to Dr Prasad's era.
Proactive Steps to Tackle Corruption: CM
Chief minister Sadananda Gowda, who recieved a huge round of applause from the gathering, echoed Advani on the issue of corruption. He said that Advani asked him what steps he had taken to tackle corruption, for which he answered that he would do so through transperancy. He said he will soon install cameras in govenment offices and the Vidhana Soudha, so that the public can directly keep a watch on the government's activities. Soon, steps will also be taken to ensure that people can directly place complaints at the CM's office on phone, he added. These and other such proactive measures will be taken through citizen's charter to ensure transperancy in the government, he said.
On the issue of denotification of land and illegal mining, he said the additional chief sercrary committee will be directed to take apppropriate action on those proven guilty.
On red tapism, he said it was another face of corruption, and ever since he took over, as many as 4000 files had been cleared off, and the pending ones are taking longer time due to legal procedures involved in clearing them.
Curiously, state energy minister Shobha Karandlaje and higher education minister V S Acharya, both from coastal region, were absent.
BJP spokesperson Ravishankar Prasad, state BJP chief secretary C T Ravi, MP Nalin Kumar Kateel, district incharge minister Krishna J Palemar,state BJP president Eshwarappa and other BJP leaders like Ananth Kumar and Nagaraj Shetty.
Sadananda Gowda, state BJP president Eshwarappa, MP Ananth Kumar, BJP national leaders Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, Dharmendra Pradhan and others were present to welcome him at the airport.
From the airport he headed straight to Nehru Maidan on a road show. In the afternoon he will travel in the ‘ratha’ from Mangalore via national highway towards Mulky. From there he will proceed to Hejamadi, Udupi and participate in several programmes.