Bangalore: Congressmen to 'Seige’ Vidhana Soudha on Sept 26

From Our Special Correspondent
Daijiworld Media Network - Bangalore

Bangalore, Sept 22: Even as the B S Yeddyurappa-led BJP regime is getting ready to undergo an intense three-day training for the entire cabinet at Suttur Mutt in Mysore from September 29,  the state Congress leaders have to lay "seige" to Vidhana Soudha on September 26 as part of a novel agitation to ``wake up’’ the government from its ``deep slumber.’’

"Let all ministers, who have gone on foreign jaunts, be summoned. Let them get cracking to tackle the serious problems of drought, floods, incidence of H1N1 flu, chikungunya, dengue and other diseases,’’ the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee president R V Deshpande said.

Addressing a news conference accompanied by the party’s working president D K Shivakumar, opposition leaders in the assembly Siddaramaiah and council V S Ugrappa and others, they declared that all current and former Congress legislators will take part in the agitation aimed at preventing the ruling party ministers ``from entering Vidhana Soudha.’’

"We want to make them (ministers) understand their duties towards the people and go to villages,’’ they said.

Listing the omissions and commissions by Yeddyurappa and his Cabinet colleagues, Deshpande said the BJP regime had totally failed on all fronts ``because of its inefficiency, apathy and unwillingness to spend huge sums released by the Centre under the Calamity Relief Fund (CRF), the National Calamity Contingency Fund (NCCF) and the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS).’’

Siddaramaiah said the chief minister was needlessly accusing the Union Government discriminating against Karnataka when he was yet to spend Rs 170 crore out of the Rs 280 crore released under the CRF. The Government had not formed taluk-level committees to implement drought and flood relief measures, he said.

The Andhra Pradesh and Rajasthan governments had spent Rs 3,000 crore and Rs 6,000 crore respectively on such measures during the past four years, while the BJP Government in Karnataka had spent only Rs 600 crore, Siddaramaiah said.

Deshpande said 12,000 Nemmadi cards were issued in Haliyal Assembly constituency but no foodgrains had been supplied. People were facing a food shortage at the time of Dasara and Ramzan.

"Many Ministers, particularly those from Bellary district, did not come to their offices in the Vidhana Soudha and the Vikasa Soudha, and did not attend to people’s grievances,’’ he said.

Shivakumar alleged that Minister for Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Shobha Karandlaje was trying to induct Sangh Parivar elements by recruiting them as panchayat development officers, instead of making the recruitments through the Karnataka Public Service Commission (KPSC).

There were reports of examination papers for the written test being leaked, he said and urged that the process be cancelled and the job entrusted to the KPSC.

Shivakumar said the Department of Rural Development and Panchayat Raj had collected Rs 6 crore from 1,55,000 candidates but was favouring Sangh Parivar elements. As much as 90 per cent of the funds spent by the department were allocated by the Centre, he said.