Uproarious Scenes in Karnataka Assembly; Members Almost Come to Blows
From Our Special Correspondent
Daijiworld Media Network - Bangalore
Bangalore, Jul 9: Uproarious scenes and dharnas as well as opposition and ruling party members almost coming to blows were witnessed in the Karnataka Legislative Assembly on Friday during and after Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa’s reply on the week-long debate on the resignation of Lokayukta Justice N Santhosh Hegde and illegal mining in the state.
Even more unprecedented was the incident involving the Chief Minister losing his cool and leaving his seat by aggressively moving towards Congress Opposition leader in the Assembly Siddaramaiah as if to physically assault and later tendering an apology, when the entire opposition members staged a dharna inside the House.
The situation was so much worse that Congress and BJP members went to the extent of lodging criminal complaints against each other with the police and also with the Speaker. With Congress members threatening their protest and dharna on Monday also, the Speaker has convened a meeting on Monday to resolve the impasse.
The Chief Minister’s repeated tendering of apology and regretting his actions as well as promise to control his emotions defused the situation and the succeeded in convincing the opposition members to withdraw their dharna though they persisted in their demand for a CBI probe, which has been rejected by the Government.
Incidentally, the Chief Minister’s detailed reply in the House over the Lokayukta’s resignation and illegal mining issues and the subsequent statement that Infrastructure and Tourism Minster G Janardhana Reddy would give his reply sparked off a furore as opposition members stoutly protested contending that the Bellary minister had no locus standii to give a reply because he was neither the minister in charge of mining nor forests as both portfolios were under the control of Yeddyurappa.
The opposition tirade against the Bellary Reddy brothers, with Janardhana Reddy being the focus point, and the heated exchange of words between Congress and BJP members led to members almost coming to blows with each other. The BJP member from Kampli Suresh Babu, who is considered quite close to the Bellary Reddy brothers, rushed as if to attack Congress member Dinesh Gundu Rao for his comments that the alleged goondagiri of Bellary will not be allowed nor tolerated inside the House.
Immediately bedlam ensued in the Assembly and Speaker K G Bopaiah, who sensed the situation was going out of control, immediately adjourned the House to meet and Monday. However, the opposition and ruling party members continued their dharna and exchange of words with threatening gestures against each other. The BJP members G Somashekara Reddy, Suresh Babu, Nagendra as well as ministers Janardhana Reddy and G Karunakara Reddy were behind the ruling party members while Congress members supported Dinesh Gundu Rao, with D K Shiva Kumar, N L Narendra Babu and many others defending their party.
Even though the Speaker had adjourned the House, the dharna and heated exchanges of words continued in the Assembly even after its adjournment and the Congress members who sat in dharna for hours together had lunch inside the well of the house.
Incidentally, with Janardhana Reddy, Suresh Babu and other BJP members attacking the Congress and Siddaramaiah for their behavior and ``baseless’’ allegations against them and challenging the Congress party to hold rallies in Bellary if it had the guts, Siddaramaiah shot back outside the House that the party would organise rallies not only in Bellary district but also in front of the residence of Reddy brothers in Bellary.
Earlier in his 21-page detailed reply, Yeddyurappa alleged that illegal iron ore export has been rampant for the last seven years and a whopping over 30 million tonnes of ore has been illegally exported from the State from 2003-04 to 2009-10. The political parties which ruled the state in the past had given mining permits to their party men and relatives and allowed to “loot” the ore illegally during the last six years.
Apart from allowing illegal export ore from Mangalore, Karwar and Bellekere ports, over 76 million tonnes ore had been exported from Chennai, Mormugao Goa, Krishnapattam, Kakinada and Vaizag ports. The ore has also been illegally exported from ports located in other states, he said.
Illegal export of iron ore was 20,49,961 tonnes in 2003-04, 52,39,528 tonnes in 2004-05, 21,71,492 tonnes in 2005-06, 47,44,645 tonnes in 2006-07, 57,61,048 tonnes in 2007-08, 33,96,126 tonnes in 2008-09 and 71,27,937 tonnes in 2009-10.
A total of 284.5 lakh tonnes exported from Chennai port, 264 lakh tonnes from Mormugao Goa, 117 lakh tonnes from Krishnapattam, 81 lakh tonnes from Kakinada, 17.5 lakh tonnes from Vaizag ports from 2003-04 to 2009-10, he said.
Miners have extended their mining in 7,558 hectares of forests in the State against 15,387 hectares in Orissa, 13,532 hectares in Andhra Pradesh, 10,058 hectares in Madhya Pradesh, and 4,996 hectares of forests in Rajasthan. There are about 15,000 illegal mines in the country.
In addition to destruction of ecology and roads in the State, mining led to degradation of groundwater level and adversely affected the health of many people and this has been confirmed by a study conducted by the Delhi-based Centre for Science and Environment, he said.
The Dharam Singh government had issued notifications for 33 mining permits, 19 by the H D Kumaraswamy government, nine during the Presidents’ rule and only two by the BJP government, Yeddyurappa said.
The Chief Minister, who referred mining stories published in an English magazine of July 16, 2010, said the government has taken several steps to curb illegal mining and illegal transportation of ore. It has decided to introduce e-permits to ensure transparency in granting permits for mining.
The Government had announced a new mining policy in 2008 to encourage value addition for minerals. A decision has been taken to give permits for only those companies which set up industries to provide value addition to the ore.
To check illegal transportation of ore, check posts and integrated check posts have been established in several places in Chitradurga, Tumkur, Bellary, Dakshina Kannada, and Uttara
Kannada districts, the Chief Minister said demanding that a national policy to curb illegal mining and also to ban indiscriminate export of iron ore and for use of the ore for steel production in the country.
Permits of companies involved in illegal mining would not be renewed and the Government was in favour of banning of iron exports. Instead of bulk permits, permits would be given to each loads and trips.
Toll plazas would be set up in 10 places and information on mining would be obtained through high resolution satellite data and images. A coordination and empowered committee headed by the Chief Secretary has been set up to monitor cases related to mining, he said.
A toll of Rs. 500 was imposed on each truck of iron ore load and collection stood at Rs. 320 crore. The forest development tax collection recorded at Rs. 336 crore in 2009-10 and Rs. 187 crore so far, he said.
Referring to demands of the Lokayukta, he said 15 posts had been sanctioned in last May and 12 technical posts last month. A notification has been issued to sanction 292 new posts.
Permission has been granted to set up the Lokayukta office at newly crated Yadgir district. An order has been issued to provide free bus passes to the Lokayukta police, the Chief Minister said.
However, dissatisfied with the reply, the Opposition staged a dharna in the House. The Speaker adjourned the House to meet on Monday.