BANGALORE: The Congress has charged the Government with failing to check communal clashes in Mangalore and demanded a judicial inquiry into the violence, which claimed two lives and left many people injured.

The party also decided to boycott the U.L. Bhat Commission of Inquiry, which is looking into the irregularities in mining activities.

The Congress Legislature Party held a meeting here on Thursday and adopted a resolution condemning the Janata Dal (Secular)-Bharatiya Janata Party government's "failure to maintain law and order in Dakshina Kannada district for a week." The BJP, which is a partner in the ruling coalition, had supported the bandh in Mangalore. District in-charge Minister B. Nagaraja Shetty had not even convened a peace committee meeting to try and end the violence. The Government was unable to ensure the security of minority communities, the Congress alleged.

Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Assembly N. Dharam Singh and Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee president M. Mallikarjun Kharge told presspersons that the Bajrang Dal, the Sri Rama Sene and the BJP and even some Ministers were behind the outbreak of violence in Mangalore. He held Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy responsible for the situation.

The meeting adopted another resolution stating that the party would not file any affidavit before the U.L. Bhat Commission. The party still insisted on an inquiry by the Central Bureau of Investigation, Mr. Kharge said.

The inquiry by the commission would not solve the problems in the mining sector. The commission would only submit a factual report, and it was up to the Cabinet to accept or reject it. The commission had no powers to prosecute those accused of illegal mining, Mr. Kharge said. The Government had enacted a "political drama" with regard to Datta Mala Abhiyana at Datta Peetha in Bababudangiri. BJP leaders and Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal activists had violated the Karnataka High Court orders and organised Datta Mala Abhiyana, the two Congress leaders claimed.

Sources in the Congress said the party had sought early election to the post of chairman of the Legislative Council, failing which it had threatened to move a no-confidence motion against the incumbent Deputy Chairman, Sachidanand Khot, who had been officiating as the Chairman of the Upper House for the past six months. The sources said the matter relating to the election of the council chairman was discussed at the meeting. It also resulted in a heated discussion between former Minister D.K. Shivakumar and Leader of the Opposition in the Council H.K. Patil.

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