The Hindu

Udupi, Jun 11: The district unit of Bharatiya Janata Party has accused the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) of misusing the money collected for relief works in the flood-affected areas of north Karnataka last year.

In a press release issued here, spokesperson of the BJP Katapady Shankar Poojary said that it was not correct on the part of the Congress to have used the donations for its own purposes. This irregularity had brought political parties and their workers under a cloud. The clarifications given by KPCC president R.V. Deshpande on this issue were not credible, he said.

Of the Rs. 2.3 crore collected by the Congress, only Rs. 1.1 core had been used for rehabilitation of the flood-affected people. The rest of the money was used for the upkeep of the KPCC office and kept as fixed deposit in a bank.

There were reports that many Congress leaders across the State had not parted with these donations. Governor H.R. Bharadwaj should intervene in this matter. The Government should initiate action, the release said.