Furore in Assembly as Cong Demands CBI Probe into Rs 60,000 cr Mining Scam
From Our Special Correspondent
Daijiworld Media Network

Bangalore, July 6: The Karnataka Legislative Assembly witnessed uproarious scenes on Tuesday when Congress opposition leader Siddaramaiah demanded the resignation of chief minister B S Yeddyurappa over the mining scam in the state estimated to be of the order of a whopping Rs 60,000 crore, which he described as the ``biggest scam of the century.”

With opposition Congress and JD(S) members as well as the BJP members in the treasury benches were involved in an  acrimonious trading of charges against each other, bedlam and furore marked the debate on the controversy arising out of the resignation and its subsequent withdrawal by Karnataka’s Lokayukta Justice N Santhosh Hegde.

Siddaramaiah was at his sarcastic best while lambasting the Yeddyurappa government over the mysterious disappearance of five lakh tonnes of iron ore seized at Belekeri port in Uttara Kannada district, which turned out to be the main issue that prompted Justice Hegde to tender his resignation on the eve of the Sadhana Samavesha to mark the completion of two years in office of the BJP regime.

Records at the port as well as in Karwar suggested around 35 lakh tonnes of illegal mining and exports between November and February, he said nobody could even imagine the actual extent of the illegal export going by the iron ore extracted in Karnataka and exported from other ports such as Mangalore and Vishakhapatnam.

``If we do the calculation, it (illegal iron ore mining and exports) could be Rs 50,000 crore to Rs 60,000 crore. Iron ore to the extent of Rs 50,000 crore to Rs 60,000 crore has been looted,” Siddaramaiah alleged and asked the chief minister to prove his integrity by accepting the demand for a CBI probe.

Those engaged in illegal mining and exports had colluded with officials, he alleged, pointing out to several checkposts of the departments of forests, mines and geology and transport failing to
check illegal transportation while being taken to ports by road.
Though the Lokayukta submitted its report on rampant irregularities in the mining sector more than one and half years ago, the government chose not to act against it and wondered whether the chief minister was himself a party to the illegal activities. ``People in the entire state know who is behind the entire scam and the illegal mining,” he said.
As illegal mining and export involved inter-state operations as well as overseas shipments, it should be probed by CBI.

`The chief minister, who also holds the portfolios of forest as well as mines and geology, has no moral right to continue in office and should resign,” Siddaramaiah demanded.

Yeddyurappa was visibly upset by the continous tirade by Siddaramaiah and demanded that he should apologise for leveling unfounded and baseless allegations on the floor of the Assembly. ``Let him come with evidence and prove his charges,” he said and asserted that he would produce documentary proof of the misdeeds that took place during the Congress rule.

"It was the Congress which encouraged the loot of the iron ore,” the Chief Minister said adding that his government had been opposing export of ore. ``You should be ashamed and this is not the way the Leader of the Opposition should conduct himself in the House,” Yeddyurappa said.
The discussion raised a lot of heat and sparks flew, with Speaker K G Bopaiah expunging certain remarks from both sides.

Even as  Siddaramaiah and other Congress members repeatedly demanded a CBI probe, Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister S Suresh Kumar sought to belittle CBI, dubbing it ``Congress Bureau of Investigation” inviting heated exchanges of words from both sides.
Yeddyurappa, who intervened earlier, promised to convene a meeting with leaders of opposition in the legislative assembly and council to discuss ways to strengthen the institution of Lokayukta and giving more powers to the statutory body.

Former union minister and Congress member V Srinivas Prasad said the Chief Minister should have given fitting reply to the Opposition during his reply to the debate instead creating bedlam in the house with noisy protests.

Tourism and Infrastructure Minister G Janardhana Reddy said it was not proper on the part of Siddaramaiah to keep on targeting the Chief Minister and seeking his resignation. ``Don’t speak lightly about the Chief Minister,” he said and asked the Congress leader to speak on the subject.