The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Venkaiah calls for frequent meetings of BJP-JD(S) coordination committee

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Jul 17, 2006

Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Venkaiah calls for frequent meetings of BJP-JD(S) coordination committee

Staff Reporter

`This will help in avoiding recurrence of unsavoury episodes'

BIGWIGS: Former Union Minister Jaswant Singh (second from right) being welcomed before the start of a press conference in Bangalore on Sunday. BJP State president D.V. Sadananda Gowda (second from left), senior party leader M. Venkaiah Naidu (left) a nd H.N. Ananth Kumar, MP, are with him. — Photo: V. Sreenivasa Murthy

BANGALORE: The national leadership of the Bharatiya Janata Party has asked the State unit to hold meetings of the coordination committee with its coalition partner, the Janata Dal (S), more frequently, and discuss issues threadbare before rushing to the media.

The State unit has been told to do so in order to avoid recurrence of episodes like the one orchestrated by BJP MLC Janardhana Reddy.

Senior BJP leader M. Venkaiah Naidu told presspersons here on Sunday that Mr. Reddy, who was summoned to New Delhi last week, after his allegation that Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy had received Rs. 150 crore from the Bellary mining lobby, had been told to leave such issues to the party leadership, and not rush to make statements to the media.

Mr. Naidu said Mr. Reddy had explained to him the problems rocking Bellary district, where illegal mining and the naxalite menace were rampant. "He had a genuine grievance, but I have told him this is not the way of doing things. I have asked him to ensure that he will not make such statements and embarrass the Chief Minister or cause trouble," he said.

The only remedy was not to rush to the press with every minor problem, as it became difficult for the coalition partners to run the Government and share power without treading on each other's corns. Further, if the coordination committee met more frequently, there would be little chance for such events to recur, Mr. Naidu said.

Christian activities on Tirumala

Mr. Naidu said the reports of increased religious activities by Christians on Tirumala had to be taken seriously, and it had to be stopped immediately. It was not a party issue, but the BJP would be interested in ensuring that the recommendations of the fact-finding committee were implemented, and a strong signal sent to those who indulged in religious conversion.

Mr. Naidu said the UPA Government had shown that it had no agenda to address issues of terrorism, as had been shown in the wake of the Mumbai train blasts.

"It is well known that all the terrorist outfits being mentioned have their roots in Pakistan, and were promoted by the ISI. India's confidence-building measures were ineffective, and the Government must act on two fronts — create strong opinion against terrorism, and display the courage to bring back POTA or a similar law in any other form.

"It doesn't matter what name it goes by, because I know that the UPA Government has changed the names of 22 schemes launched by the NDA Government," he said.

It was time to stop following the "condolence and compensation" route to wipe out terrorism, and the UPA Government must stop the talk and start the walk," Mr. Naidu said. Mr. Naidu, who gets Z category security, said when he arrived in Bangalore, there was no police escort waiting for him.

He had informed the Delhi police on July 13, but no arrangements had been made here on his arrival.

"I am just saying this to show how well organised the Home Ministry is, if it cannot ensure a simple thing like this," he said.

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