The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Apex court judge must probe it: JD (U)

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Saturday, Jul 26, 2008
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Apex court judge must probe it: JD (U)

Special Correspondent

‘The incident has brought a bad name to Parliamentary democracy’

State urged to seek more power from Central grid
‘Give up the idea of a power plant in Chhattisgarh’

BANGALORE: The Janata Dal (United) on Thursday urged Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee to order a probe by a Supreme Court judge into the alleged bribing of MPs to vote in favour of the confidence motion.

Party State general secretary G.K.C. Reddy told presspersons here that such an inquiry was necessary to bring out the truth behind the alleged episode, which tarnished the country’s image.

Mr. Reddy said as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) State unit was “encouraging defections and indulging in opportunistic politics,” three MPs from Karnataka belonging to that party supported the UPA during the confidence vote.

While Bangalore North MP H.T. Sangliana and Dharwad South MP Manjunath Kunnur voted in favour of the motion, Udupi MP Manorama Madhwaraj abstained from voting.

Mr. Reddy said at the time of seat-sharing during the 2004 Lok Sabha elections, BJP had turned down the Janata Dal (U) request to allow its leaders, Michael Fernandes and Jayarama Shetty to contest from Bangalore North and Udupi constituencies respectively.

Instead, the BJP fielded Ms. Madhwaraj, who defected from the Congress, from Udupi and retired IPS officer Mr. Sangliana from Bangalore North, he said. Despite opposition from Mr. Kunnur, the BJP admitted Janata Dal (U) leader Basavaraj Bommai into the party, ahead of the Assembly elections. This resulted in Mr. Kunnur voting in favour of the UPA.

Power crisis

Referring to the power crisis in the State, the Janata Dal (United) leader said the Government should take steps to get more power from the Central grid and buy power from private companies and States such as Orissa.

The Government should give up the idea of setting up a power plant in the naxalite-affected Chhattisgarh and instead focus on the Mekedatu power project.

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