Pics: Spoorthi Ullal
Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru (MD)

Mangaluru, Feb 7: Opposition leader in the Legislature Council and BJP heavyweight K S Eshwarappa on Saturday February 7 alleged that the Congress state government is curbing freedom of speech by banning VHP leader Pravin Togadia from entering Bengaluru till February 11.

Addressing a press meet at the BJP office during his visit to the city, Eshwarappa said, "On February 8, Hindu Virat Samavesha will be held in five cities in the country. In Karnataka, Dharmasthala Dharmadhikari Dr Veerendra Heggade along with various swamijis will attend the Samavesha.

"The state government is curbing Pravin Togadia's freedom of speech and is following in the footsteps of Indiria Gandhi. When Indira Gandhi tried to curb freedom of expression during the Emergency, the Congress party lost power at the centre. Now the state government will also meet the same fate," he said.

"Though there are cases against Togadia, he has come out from them as no case has been proved. The entire Hindu community of India feels sad that he has been from Bengaluru.

"Though I respect the high court's decision to uphold the ban on Togadia, I feel sad about it," he added.

Attacking home minister K J George, he said, "When fights erupt in the state, it is the duty of the home minister to step in and take appropriate action to control the situation. But the home minister has failed in doing so. Let the government accept that it is incapable of protecting the people."

When asked about the state government's action on Asaduddin Owaisi's programme in Bengaluru, he said, "Owaisi should be allowed to speak and later the government should take action. Just to divert attention from the ban on Togadia, the government has also banned Owaisi from giving speech.

"There is still time for Siddaramaih to reconsider the decision on the ban on Togadia," he added.

Alleging that the state government had bowed to lobbying in the allotment of iron ore to seven companies, he said, "On January 5, the central government amended the Mines and Mineral Act and introduced competitive public auctioning for iron ore mines. However, the state government on January 7 and January 12 alloted the iron ores to seven companies directly without auctioning. This was due to lobbying by the companies and it resulted in loss of thousands of crores. Even the industrialists suffered and only a few benefitted."

Referring to the alleged Bescom scam, he said, "In a Rs 190-crore scam in Bescom, 20 lac meters were purchased directly through allotment without calling tenders. The contract was given to L&G company of Kolkata, and later L&T company filed a petition that contract should be given to it without calling tenders just as in the case of L&G.

"Energy minister D K Shivakumar has admitted that the scam has taken place, and as per the Karnataka Transparency Public Procurement Act (KTPP) Act, three years of imprisonment should be awarded to officials who have allotted the contract without calling tenders.

"D K Shivakumar has that investigation will be done by principal secretary of finance department. It was DKS' guru S M Krishna who had enforced the KTPP Act during his tenure as CM, but now DKS himself has violated the Act brought about by his guru," Eshwarappa said.

"This is a government that supports corruption. In such a scenario, CM SIddaramaiah should not speak of providing corruption-free government," he added.

MP Nalin Kumar Kateel, former minister Krishna Palemar and others were present.