GULBARGA: Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Assembly N. Dharam Singh has urged Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy, who holds the Home portfolio, to ban the entry of the `Bharat Suraksha Yatra' into Karnataka to maintain communal harmony.

Talking to presspersons here, Mr. Singh said the Bharatiya Janata Party leader L.K. Advani's yatra was likely to disturb communal harmony and pitch one community against another. He warned the Chief Minister that Janata Dal (S) would pay a heavy price if it continued its indifferent attitude towards the communal politics being resorted to by the BJP in the State.

Mr. Singh said the BJP, which was desperate after all its attempts to dislodge the United Progressive Alliance Government at the Centre failed, was playing up the bomb blasts in Varanasi to divert the attention of the people and bring disharmony in the country.

Referring to the violence in Bhatkal, the former Chief Minister said there was a palpable difference between the reaction of the Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa. While Mr. Yediyurappa had declared that Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence was behind the violence, Mr. Kumaraswamy had said that corrupt politicians were behind the communal disturbance in the coastal town.

Referring to the Water Resource Minister K.S. Eshwarappa's criticism of his statement about communal forces and the budgetary allocations made for the Manasa Sarovar pilgrimage and repair of Hindu temples, Mr. Singh said the Minister's tone showed the intolerance of BJP leaders to criticism by other political parties of their partisan acts.

High Court Benches

Mr. Singh said the previous government headed by him was responsible for finding an amicable solution to the demand by advocates in North Karnataka for a Bench of the High Court in the region. The High Court had been persuaded to sanction two Circuit Benches, one in Dharwad and the other in Gulbarga.

He said the present government, which failed to provide funds in the budget to speed up construction of the buildings for the Benches in Dharwad and Gulbarga, later announced the sanction of funds after advocates of the regions protested and Opposition parties pointed out the failure to allocate funds.

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