Daijiworld Media Network – Bangalore (SP)

Bangalore, Apr 9: ‘Congressige Banni – Badalavani Tanni’, a campaign urging people to support Congress to bring in fresh air in state politics, was launched by the state Congress at Gollarahatti on Magadi Road here on Sunday April 8.

Addressing the gathering at the inaugural function of the campaign, opposition leader in the state assembly, Siddaramaiah, said that the party will recover one lac crore rupees from those who looted mineral wealth of the state, and use the same for state’s welfare. “The erstwhile state Lokayukta, Justice Santosh Hegde, had recommended in his report, to recover four times the loss suffered by the exchequer because of the illegal miners. He had put the loss suffered because of illegal mining activities, at Rs 20,000 crore. To forfeit the assets of these looters and enrich the state’s coffers, there is a need to bring Congress party back to power, as the BJP government has failed to do anything on this recommendation,” Siddaramaiah reasoned.

He noted that BJP national leader, L K Advani, has been harping on bringing back black money stashed away in foreign banks. He advised Advani to take steps to bring out black money hidden within his own party ranks before doing anything else. He pointed out that former minister, B Sriramulu, has claimed that he had diverted Rs 200 crore out of the mining loot, to the state BJP, which is black money.

He criticized Chief Minister, D V Sadananda Gowda, for holding video conferences by sitting in his air-conditioned room in Vidhan Soudha, at a time when the people of the state are reeling under unprecedented draught.  He also claimed that Yeddyurappa was enjoying in a resort when the people had no water to drink. “Yeddy is now visiting drought-hit villages to try to project himself as the champion of poor people,” he criticized.

Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee president, G Parameshwar, asked the Chief Minister (CM) to rush to parched parts of the state and take steps to vibe to the needs of those people immediately. He said that the CM, who has 21 ministries under his belt, has been pestered to step down by Yeddyurappa, and that the high command is trying keep his ministry alive by providing life support now and then.

Union minister, K H Muniyappa, promised to put in efforts to get more funds released from the central government to meet the needs of the draught-hit areas of the state. All India Congress Committee general secretary, B K Hariprasad, and in-charge of Congress party affairs in the state, Madhusudan Mistry, also heaped criticisms on the state governments and demanded for its dismissal.

Congress leaders, Oscar Fernandes, M V Rajashekharan, C M Ibrahim, Motamma, D K Shivakumar etc also were bitterly critical of the state government for what they termed as its lackadaisical attitude towards the problems faced by the people. Absence of many state leaders of the party, which is affected by infighting, was conspicuous. The gathering was also not upto the expectations of organizers.