The Hindu : Karnataka / Hassan News : Dharam Singh is weakest Chief Minister: Shettar

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, May 22, 2005

Karnataka

Karnataka - Hassan

Dharam Singh is weakest Chief Minister: Shettar

Staff Correspondent

Claims waiver of interest on farm loans has not helped farmers `The presidents of Janata Dal (S) and Congress are remote controlling Mr. Dharam Singh and he has become a puppet in their hands'

HASSAN: Describing the Chief Minister, N. Dharam Singh, as the weakest Chief Minister the State has seen, the President of the State unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Jagadeesh Shettar, said that the coalition Government has failed on every front and people are frustrated with bad governance.

Addressing a convention of party workers here on Saturday, he said that the presidents of the Janata Dal (Secular) and the Congress are "remote controlling Mr. Dharam Singh and he has become a puppet in their hands."

The Janata Dal (Secular) president, H.D. Deve Gowda, is acting as an extra-constitutional authority and frustrating Mr. Dharam Singh by not allowing him to function freely, Mr. Shettar said. Though a partner in the coalition Government, the Janata Dal (S) is acting as an opposition party by conducting a rally to highlight the apathy of the Government to the problems faced by the people in slums, he added.

People are becoming more frustrated with the Government each day as developmental works have came to stand still in the State and the Government has failed in constituting committees to implement programmes for the uplift of the poor, he said.

Hooch tragedies

Referring the hooch tragedies in Hettur, Nelamangala, Tubinakere, Bage, and Satenahalli, he said that the Government has failed to tackle the problem effectively and there is no coordination between of the coalition partners. While Mr. Dharam Singh decides to act against the Deputy Commissioner and Superintendent of Police of Hassan, holding them responsible for the recurring hooch tragedies in the district, the Minister for Public Works and Energy, H.D. Revanna, questions the rational behind the decision, he said.

Questioning the commitment of the coalition Government to the cause of farmers, he said that the waiver of interest on farm loans has not helped the farming community, as most of them have borrowed from commercial banks.

Mr. Shettar demanded a white paper on the effects of the interest waiver on cooperative loans of farmers. He alleged that though the Union Government has released its share of funds for the crop insurance scheme, the State Government is yet to release its share.

Criticised

Criticising the coalition Government on the way it has handled the problems of farmers in the Krishna and Cauvery basins, he said that the State is losing its share of water due to the conflict with the neighbouring States. "Neither Mr. Deve Gowda nor Mr. Dharam Singh have reacted to the comment of the Union Minister for Panchayat Raj, Manishankar Aiyar, on the State's stand on the Cauvery issue.

Describing the BJP as the only party that respects workers, he said that the party has expanded its base in rural areas in the recent years. He claimed that of the 90,000 gram panchayat seats, candidates supported by the party have won 30,000 seats.

He added that the urban tag attached to BJP is vanishing as 31 of the 79 MLAs of the party are from rural areas.

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