The Hindu : Karnataka News : `Full-fledged Ministry will perform well'

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Dec 15, 2004

Karnataka

Karnataka

`Full-fledged Ministry will perform well'

By Our Special Correspondent

BANGALORE, DEC. 14. A day before the expansion of the Congress-Janata Dal (S) Ministry in the State, H.D. Deve Gowda, national president of the JD(S), has blessed the exercise and said the constitution of a full-fledged Ministry will enable it to perform in a better manner.

However, Mr. Deve Gowda did not spare the Government on the issue of announcing special packages for the development of some districts. The concern of the JD(S) is the overall development of the State and not the development of select regions, he said.

He was speaking to presspersons here after a programme where several prominent leaders, including K.V. Ravindranath Babu, a three-time Congress MLA from Kottur in Bellary district, joined the JD (S). Mr. Babu was originally in the Janata Parivar. Along with him, several Janata Party activists and Block Congress Committee presidents joined the JD(S).

Mr. Deve Gowda said the Dharam Singh-led Government in the State is doing well and its performance will improve further with the Ministry expansion.

`Regularise houses'

Earlier, addressing a party meeting, Mr. Deve Gowda urged the Government to regularise the unauthorised houses that have come up in Bangalore and provide relief to those who built them out of necessity.

He said he will write to the Chief Minister, N. Dharam Singh, requesting him to regularise the unauthorised constructions in Bangalore, which have existed for 10 to 15 years.

Mr. Deve Gowda said he is against the demolition of the unauthorised constructions since most of them belong to the poor. However, some of them may have to make way for infrastructure development. "I would like to make it clear that the Deputy Chief Minister, Siddaramaiah, and I are not against the development of infrastructure in Bangalore as is being made out to be."

The former Prime Minister said it is improper to say that the JD(S) is focussing only on rural areas and that the party is committed only to the betterment of the lot of farmers. The party's aim is to serve the people and enable them to lead a better life. The corporate sector too should contribute for the uplift of the people, he said.

National focus

Referring to the programme to strengthen the party, he said the JD(S), which has gained in strength in the State, will now focus on being more vibrant at the national level. Mr. Deve Gowda, accompanied by his sons H.D. Revanna and H.D. Kumaraswamy, Public Works Minister and JD(S) working president, respectively, was in New Delhi for two days and held a meeting with the central leaders of the party. A full-fledged central office of the JD(S) is being set up in New Delhi.

Asked for his comments on Mr. Kumaraswamy threatening to quit as working president of the party, Mr. Deve Gowda said Mr. Kumaraswamy had only said that if anyone in the party was hurt over his appointment he was ready to resign and serve as an ordinary party worker. The decision to appoint him working president was a collective one and taken at a meeting of all senior party leaders, he added.

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