The Hindu : Karnataka News : Congress sees rift in BJP

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Aug 02, 2010
ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version

Karnataka

Karnataka

Congress sees rift in BJP

Staff Correspondent

Siddaramaiah says ruling party is scared of losing power

Congress prefers mid-term polls instead of a tie-up with the JD(S)
Party has only floor coordination with the JD(S)

Siddaramaiah

J.G. Halli (Chitradurga dist): Leader of the Opposition in Legislative Assembly Siddaramaiah has said that the statements of Bharatiya Janata Party leaders on joining hands with the Janata Dal (Secular), if required, was a clear sign of bickering within that party.

Addressing presspersons here on Sunday before continuing the “Bellary Chalo” padayatra, he said that as the BJP was scared of losing power, its leaders were speaking in different voices.

Asked if the Congress would seek the support of Janata Dal (Secular) to form the Government in the event of the present Government collapsing, Mr. Siddaramaiah stated that the Congress would prefer mid-term elections.

He said that his party had only floor coordination with the Janata Dal (Secular) in the Assemblyhad no tie-up with the Janata Dal (Secular).

On Tourism Minister G. Janaradhan Reddy to the Congress to win the byelection from the Bellary (city) after seeking the resignation of Somashekhar Reddy, one of the Reddy brothers, Mr. Siddaramaiah chided that it was against the Congress's dignity to contest against a “criminal”.

“The Congress considers the Reddys ‘criminals', therefore we cannot accept such challenges from such ‘criminals,” he remarked.

On the statement of BJP that it had full faith in the Lokayukta, but not in the Congress which was seeking CBI probe, Mr. Siddaramaiah wondered if that was the case, then why had the Government not acted upon the Lokayukta report on illegal mining even after 19 months.

Defending the need to handover the cases of illegal mining to the CBI instead of the Lokayukta, the Congress leader said that since the Reddy brothers had mining business in foreign countries such as Georgia, Malaysia, Australia and Dubai, “only the CBI has the capacity to conduct probe in foreign countries to unearth the illegal mining business of the Reddys.”

Taking exception to the BJP's charge that 90 per cent Congressmen were involved in illegal mining, Mr. Siddaramaiah dared Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa to seek the CBI's help to bring out the truth.

‘BJP rattled'

President, Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee president R.V. Deshpande has claimed that the public support to the padayatra has rattled the BJP Government.

“The BJP and Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa are worried with the success of the padayatra. Now to save his Government, he is making different announcements every day,” he said.

To charges that the Congress was trying to dislodge the Government, Mr. Deshpande said his party had no such intensions.

“Looking at the prevailing situation in the BJP, the Government will fall on its own”, he claimed.

Taking serious note of the Health Minister Sriramulu participating in a rally in Bellary to counter the padayatra, the KPCC president asked the Minister to resign from the post before embarking upon the rally.

‘Many became paupers'

Earlier, addressing a meeting on Saturday, Mr. Siddaramaiah alleged that in the BJP regime, the people have become paupers while the Reddy brothers had become millionaires.

He said that till 2004, the Reddy brothers who did not come under the ambit of tax payers, now claimed to posses over Rs. 50,000 crore.

Accusing Mr. Yeddyurappa of failing to curb illegal mining, the Congress leader alleged despite the Reddy brothers facing serious criminal charges, Mr. Yeddyurappa did not remove them from the Cabinet.

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

Karnataka

News Update

Stories in this Section