The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Congress alleges graft in transfers

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, May 19, 2006

Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Congress alleges graft in transfers

Staff Reporter

Four party general secretaries demand White Paper on `transfer business'

Bangalore: Four general secretaries of the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee, including two members of the Legislative Council, have alleged that there is rampant corruption in the transfer of government employees.

V.S. Ugrappa and Veeranna Mathikatti, MLCs, and M. Ramachandrappa and Abdul Wahab told presspersons here on Thursday that Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy himself had admitted it and had warned that those responsible for it would be dealt with seriously. The Chief Minister had also directed that the transfers be completed by May 25. The Congress leaders demanded a White Paper on the entire `transfer business' that they alleged was going on in connivance with politicians and senior officials.

Mr. Ugrappa said he was surprised why Deputy Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa, who used to give sermons to the Government when in the Opposition, day was silent.

Attacking the Government for lack of transparency in transfers, they said it was surprising that Janata Dal (Secular) national president H.D. Deve Gowda had belatedly opened his eyes to the increasing pilferage of government revenue. "Why has he not spoken against illegal mining in forest land and raids on corrupt officials by the Lokayukta and the havoc created by chikungunya," Mr. Ugrappa asked.

Mr. Deve Gowda, he said, had taken out padayatras or staged dharnas when people were killed in police firing in places such as Kunigal, Nagamangala, Doddahalli and Vitlenahalli. But he had not uttered a word of protest when eight persons died in Bangalore in the violence following the death of the Kannada film actor Rajkumar. There was a dichotomy in his words and deeds. Mr. Deve Gowda was notorious for using such incidents to further his political ends. The former Prime Minister had no political philosophy, he charged.

That had amply been proved when he aligned himself with a party that had diametrically opposite policies and programmes to those of his own. The Janata Dal (S) had aligned with communists in Kerala, the All-India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam in Tamil Nadu, the Nationalist Congress Party in Maharashtra and with the Bharatiya Janata Party in Karnataka.

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