The Hindu : Five AIPJD leaders defend Chief Secretary

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Dec 28, 2003

Southern States

Southern States - Karnataka

Five AIPJD leaders defend Chief Secretary

By Our Special Correspondent

Bangalore Dec. 27. Five leaders of the All-India Progressive Janata Dal (AIPJD), including three legislators hailing from North Karnataka, have come out in strong defence of the Chief Secretary, B.S. Patil, against the allegations levelled against him by the former Prime Minister, H.D. Deve Gowda, with regard to the Bangalore-Mysore Infrastructure Corridor (BMIC) Project.

They are Basavaraj Horatti, AIPJD group leader in the Legislative Council, A.B. Patil, MLA and former Minister, Hampanagouda Badarli, MLA, Basavaraj Rayareddy, Secretary-General of the AIPJD State unit, and Ajaykumar Sarnaik, former MP and Minister.

What is of interest is that only recently Mr. Horatti held a convention in Hubli as a prelude to a faction of the AIPJD merging with the Janata Dal (Secular) led by Mr. Deve Gowda. Mr. A.B. Patil is also among the AIPJD MLAs who have gravitated towards the JD(S).

They said in a statement to the press that Mr. Deve Gowda's allegations against the Chief Secretary were based on "distorted facts". Mr. B.S. Patil was from North Karnataka, and an able and dynamic officer who was shortly retiring from the IAS.

He was known for his discipline and one of the few Kannadigas to become the Chief Secretary of the State. He had served the former Chief Minister, J.H. Patel, as his Principal Secretary without attracting any criticism or allegation. Mr. Deve Gowda should have considered all those factors before speaking out.

The five leaders said that it was not proper to blame an official for the decisions taken by various governments. They also claimed that of the 13,237 acres of private agricultural land to be acquired for the corridor project, only 110 acres had been acquired by the Karnataka Industrial Area Development Board. Sale of those lands bought at upset rates at a premium was not permissible under the memorandum of understanding (MoU).

However, they said that the MoU signed by Mr. Deve Gowda, when he was the Chief Minister, with the then visiting Governor of the State of Massachusetts in the U.S., William Weld, on February 20, 1995, for building the infrastructure corridor was a bold initiative. Facts available to them showed that on November 20, 1995 (when Mr. Deve Gowda was the Chief Minister), it was decided to undertake the project on build, own, operate, and transfer basis.

A later agreement fixed the requirement of land at 20,193 acres.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Southern States

News Update

Stories in this Section

Govt. to file affidavit before apex court

`There was no compulsion'

Deve Gowda urged to take steps for merger

No proposal to revamp STF

Set up economic zones for Indians abroad: Singhvi

CBI probe ordered on Jaswant Singh's suggestion, says Krishna

Drop `tainted' Ministers, Govt. told

Five AIPJD leaders defend Chief Secretary

`Ordinance has helped reduce lotteries'

Krishna Bhat walks out of panel hearing

Farmers got low rates for land: Deve Gowda