The Hindu

MANGALORE, Jul 22: Central Administrative Reforms Commission chairman M. Veerappa Moily has criticized the conduct of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) headed by the Bharatiya Janata Party in the run-up to the presidential election.

Moily told presspersons here on Saturday said the country had never seen such political drama in connection with the presidential election. Bringing low-level politics into play in the election to the highest office in the country showed the political immaturity of the NDA and its leaders. It was a sign of weakness and insecurity, he said.

The short-lived Third Front had also become an object of ridicule by opposing the candidature of Pratibha Patil for president, Moily said and termed its stand opportunistic.

While the NDA had proved itself to be a weak alliance at the Centre, the BJP-JD(S) alliance in Karnataka was falling apart. The state government was not able to get its act together to improve the socio-economic life of the people, which was the main reason for the growing menace of Naxalism. The state had not generated enough employment opportunities to ensure the social empowerment and economic stability of the poor.

Moily was also critical of the manner in which the government had handled issues relating to the Mangalore special economic zone. Once the SEZ was operational, Mangalore would have got investments totalling Rs. 1.5 lac crore. But the government had failed to follow through on issues related to the SEZ. The government had even failed to send a proposal to the Centre to make Mangalore a petroleum, chemicals and petrochemicals investment region.