The Hindu : Karnataka News : `Assembly elections likely in six months'

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Dec 03, 2004

Karnataka

Karnataka

`Assembly elections likely in six months'

By Our Special Correspondent

GULBARGA, DEC. 2. The Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Assembly, B.S. Yediyurappa, today predicted that the Congress-Janata Dal (S) coalition Government in the State would not last long and Assembly elections were likely to be held within six months.

Mr. Yediyurappa told presspersons here that the differences between the coalition partners over sharing power had reached a boiling point. He claimed that both the parties were not interested in the expansion of the Ministry because it would expose fissures in the coalition arrangement.

The BJP leader said that the two parties would continue with the coalition arrangement for another six months till the zilla panchayat elections and then go in for a snap poll to the Assembly.

The appointment of H.D. Kumaraswamy as the Janata Dal (S) working president and the nomination of the former Chief Minister S.M. Krishna as the Governor of Maharashtra were indicators that the two parties were preparing themselves for snap polls.

Taking a dig at the Congress and the Janata Dal (S) leadership for the inordinate delay in the expansion of the Ministry, Mr. Yediyurappa said the various dates set by the Chief Minister, N. Dharam Singh, and Janata Dal (S) leaders for the expansion had become a joke.

Special packages

Terming the special packages announced for Bidar and Gulbarga districts a meaningless exercise, Mr. Yediyurappa recalled that the Rs. 130-crore special package announced by the previous Government for Gulbarga district was yet to be implemented and Mr. Dharam Singh had come out with another package of Rs. 508 crores. The Government was yet to issue separate notifications on the financial allocation for the package announced by the Chief Minister. Mr. Yediyurappa wanted the Government to frame a transfer policy that would prevent unnecessary intervention by legislators in the transfer of officials and do away with mid-year transfers.

The BJP legislature party would be meeting shortly in Bangalore to chalk out an agitation programme to highlight what he called the failures of the Government on various fronts.

To a question, he said the Government had consulted the Opposition parties on the stand to be taken by the Government before the new tribunal constituted to allocate surplus waters available in the Krishna under Scheme B.

Legislature session

The Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Assembly, B.S. Yediyurappa, today demanded that the Government convene an emergency session of the legislature to discuss various urgent issues confronting the State.

Mr. Yediyurappa told pressperson here that the internal bickering among the coalition partners — the Congress and the Janata Dal (S) — and the delay in expanding the Ministry had affected developmental activities and other functions of the Government.

According to him, the absence of Ministers in key Ministries had brought developmental activities to a halt and more than 35,000 files were pending in the office of the Chief Minister, N. Dharam Singh, who was holding 22 portfolios.

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