MANGALORE: The Dakshina Kannada unit of the Youth Congress has accused the State Government of using the Forest Department to "implicate" the former minister and Congress leader D.K. Shivakumar in the illegal mining episode.

Addressing a press conference here on Thursday, president of the Dakshina Kannada Youth Congress unit Jagannath Shetty Bondala accused Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy of misusing official machinery to "frame" Mr. Shivakumar with the sole intention of politically ruining him and stopping him from playing any part in the coming byelection from Chamundeshwari constituency in Mysore. It was a "malicious political campaign" by the JD(S)-BJP coalition, he said.

Mr. Bondala said that the Forest Department should also take note of the 50,050 tonnes of illegally mined iron ore stocked at the New Mangalore Port, which had later been exported to China. This belonged to the BSK export company, which was owned by the Chief Minister's family, he said.

He also appealed to the district administration not to grant permission for the Satya Sandesha Yatra, which the BJP and the Sangh Parivar were planning to hold in Mangalore.

Mr. Bondala said the district had already seen a bout of communal tension in October, and if the administration permitted the BJP to hold the yatra, it would be an open invitation to trouble. The Youth Congress had already given an appeal in this regard to the Deputy Commissioner, he added.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail