Governor Trying to Destabilize State Govt - Yeddyurappa
Pics: Dayanand Kukkaje
Daijiworld Media Network – Mangalore (PS)
Mangalore, May 22: Chief minister Yeddyurappa coming down heavily on governor H R Bhardwaj for his ‘anti-Constitutional’ approach said that the governor who was supposed to be the bridge between the centre and the state, has joined hands with Congress and JD(S) to try and destabilize the government in the state.
Addressing a huge gathering of BJP activists and followers at a people’s movement organized in Nehru Maidan here on Sunday May 22, the CM demanded governor's resignation or recall, saying that such a person was not fit for the post of governor. His party would continue its agitation till appropriate steps were taken against the governor, he said.
Yeddyurappa said that investigation against illegal mining in the state was initiated only after he came to power. He noted that former CM Dharam Singh was the kingpin, during whose office, a system was implemented under which permission was given to transport illegal iron ore stored at revenue land. The Lokayukta of that period had inspected the case and recommended to refund the loss of Rs 23.22 crore incurred by the state government during Dharam Singh's tenure.
But Ramesh Thakur, who was the governor during then had recommended the withdrawal of allegations against Dharam Singh. Lokayukta’s report has thus been kept aside by Thakur in order to safeguard former chief minister Dharam Singh, the CM alleged.
Lashing out at Kumaraswamy, he said that during his 20-month administration as CM of the state, Kumaraswamy had given the green signal for 47 iron ore lease proposals.
He said that the new mining policy has curbed illegal mining in the state. Steps such as increase in royalty amount to 1,174.58 crore in the year 2010-11 instead of Rs 475.52 crore that existed in 2007-2008, cancellation of bulk permits, implementation of e-permits, strict inspections, computerised checks in check posts have increased the royalty (income) to the state government even after iron ore export was banned.
He lambasted Veerappa Moily and said he was unfit to be the law minister as he was supporting the attitude of Congress leaders who have been playing with the Constitution.
He said the party decides who should be the CM, not Congress or JD(S). He asserted that under his leadership BJP emerged as a majority party in assembly elections and formed the government.
He expressed hope that the central government would not recommend President's rule in state at any cost. Karnataka is the number 1 state as far as law and order was concerned, in development it stands second after Gujarat, he said, and added that if political mess had not been created by the opposition, the state would have been number 1 by now.
He said only BJP government has granted agricultural loans at 1 percent interest, and asserted that he stands by his decisions to improve the lives of fishermen and beedi workers. Next year the state government will be capable of presenting Rs 1 lac crore budget, he said.
The main reason for Anna Hazare’s revolution was corruption in cases like CWG, 2G spectrum, Adarsh House scam by the centre, he pointed out.
He gave a two-day deadline to the central government to permit the state government to summon the assembly session and to reject the governor’s report demanding President's rule in state. Failure of the same may result in severe and different forms of protest across the state, he warned.
He sarcastically commented on Bhardwaj's behaviour and said that the governor says, "I work 18 hours a day which has led to good development in the state," but if so, on what ground is he recommending President’s rule, he asked.
MP Nalin Kumar, Krishna J Palemar, Padmanabh Kottari, Ganesh Karnik, B Nagaraj Shetty, Kumble Sunder Rao, Lalaji R Mendon, mayor Praveen among others were on the dais.