Bangalore : `Yeddy Regime Addicted to Resort Culture’
From Our Special Correspondent
Daijiworld Media Network
Bangalore, Jan 5: Ending his term as Congress opposition leader in the Karnataka Legislative Council V S Ugrappa on Tuesday lambasted the B S Yeddyurappa-led BJP regime of being ``completely addicted to resort culture.’’
Addressing a news conference on the last day of his tenure as opposition leader in the Upper House, the Congress leader alleged that the Yeddyurappa regime had spent exorbitantly to ward off dissidence and resolve the internecine squabbling within the ruling party despite the fact that people in more half the entire state, particularly the northern Karnataka region, were devastated by the floods.
The brainstorming session of the BJP legislature party and MPs held at a luxury resort on the outskirts of Bangalore on Monday to hear the grievances of MLAs by the chief minister and the state BJP president D V Sadananda Gowda is the latest in the series of the resort meetings, he said.
Ugrappa said the entire Government shifted to a resort and held a meeting a few months ago, when a number of decisions, including transfer of officials without counselling were effected. But not a single decision had been implemented so far.
During elections to 25 seats in the Legislative Council from the local authorities constituencies, voters had been held captive in resorts and hotels to ensure that they were not lured by rival candidates.
"Resort politics’’ has become a common occurrence during the BJP rule, he said ridiculing Yeddyurappa’s claims that ``Development, development and only development was his government’s mantra.’’
Ugrappa, who was the leader of the Opposition for 17 months and 20 days, ended his term on Tuesday, said: ``This is the first and last term for the BJP Government in the State.’’
Knowing fully well that the party would not come to power in next elections, he accused the BJP ministers and legislators of looting the state’s mineral resources and land.
Several Ministers, including chief minister and party’s central leaders, were involved in the illegal mining and real estate business in Bangalore City, he alleged and demanded a probe by the CBI into the mining scam.
The unrealistic estimate of revenues and other sources of income would cause shortfall in the revenue to the government to the tune of Rs 15,000 crore in 2009-10, he said contending that there would be cuts in both planned and non-plan expenditures as in the previous year.
Yeddyurappa himself had recently confessed that he had committed several mistakes during the last 19 months to save his chair, which was an indication of government’s failure in all fronts.
Ugrappa mentioned that he was a trenchant critic of the Yeddyurappa regime during his tenure as member of the council as well the opposition leader. Several issues such as corruption, discrimination in flood relief works and regional imbalances had been raised and brought to the government’s notice, he said thanking all those who cooperated him during the tenure.
Though he could not get a ticket for contesting in the biennial elections to the Council from the local authorities constituencies, Ugrappa said he would continue to be in the public life and fight for the cause of the poor people and the farmers.
Meanwhile, Congress opposition leader in the state legislative assembly Siddaramaiah, at a separate discussion on the harmful effects of runaway price rise on the poorer sections of society and the common man, urged the Government to invoke all laws such as the Essential Commodities Act and jail hoarders and middlemen, responsible for artificial scarcity depriving the poor people, especially women and children of even the minimum food for survival.
Presiding over the discussion on the effects of price rise on common man organised by Dr Rammanohar Lohia Vichara Vedike-Karnataka, he agreed with writers Baraguru Ramachandrappa and U R Ananthamurthy, social activists K S Vimala, Abdul Aziz and economist G Thimmaiah that both the central and state governments had failed in rescuing the poor from the vicious circle of price rise in the state and country.
But the BJP government in the state completely failed in registering even a single case against powerful and influential hoarders and middlemen, who were taking advantage of the raising food inflation and pushing the people to poverty and hunger, he said accusing Yeddyurappa of not spending even a paltry sum of Rs 400 crore from the state’s total budget allocation of Rs 62,000 crore for subsidy to the BPL families.
It is surprising that the chief minister now talks of releasing around Rs 750 crore for the purpose, Siddaramaiah said.
The Congress leader attacked the Yeddyurappa regime of acquiring fertile land for special economic zones, reducing food production. While the Centre had released rice for 31 lakh BPL families, the state government put the number at over 70 lakh families and the later introduced the unit system to overcome the shortage of rice supply without doing anything to increase the subsidy.
Prof Ramachandrappa alleged that the union government had funds to give a rebate of Rs 2,28,000 crore for the corporate houses, while it did not have Rs 1,20,000 crore for the farmers towards food subsidy.
Dr Ananthamurthy urged the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to check spiralling food prices and control black-marketeers. Farmers are being sent to jail and beiung handcuffed for demanding justice.
Economist Abdul Aziz urged the centre to release the buffer stock of 15 million tonnes of foodgrains to ensure that hoarders were forced to sell the commodities lying with them and check blackmarketeers.
Ms Vimala said that the Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee was more worried when share market crashed than the pathetic condition of the BPL families. The governments encouraged cash crops, discouraging farmers from cultivating paddy, pulses and oil seeds, she lamented.