The Hindu : National : ‘Elections only way forward for State'

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National

‘Elections only way forward for State'

Staff Reporter

Sitaram Yechury believes it is one way of cleansing the political system

— Photo: K. Murali Kumar

Strong stand:CPI(M) Politbureau member Sitaram Yechury at the convention in Bangalore on Saturday.

Bangalore: Without an adequate majority in the Assembly and with a web of scams staring at it, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in Karnataka has no choice but to go in for fresh elections, Communist Party of India (Marxist) Politbureau member Sitaram Yechury has said.

The “shady deals and the sordid manner in which the BJP Government has survived in the Assembly” merit fresh elections, said Mr. Yechury referring, among other examples, to the controversial Operation Lotus leading to resignation of Opposition MLAs and their entry into the BJP.

Hope dashed

He said, “In its first foray into south India it was hoped that the BJP would give a model government. But its very first act was an immoral one. A political alternative is needed to cleanse the system.”

Mr. Yechury was speaking at a ‘Save Democracy' convention organised by the CPI(M) on Saturday that demanded that the “BJP Government quit”.

“When the BJP came into power they claimed to be a party with a difference, one different on four counts: chehra (face), chaal (behaviour), charitra (character) and chintan (ideology). But all that the BJP has done is to use these slogans to mask its uncontrolled desire to come to power and retain power,” he said.

Natural resources are being frittered away by acts of corruption, said Mr. Yechury referring to illegal iron-ore mining. “The Chief Minister has himself said that illegal iron ore exports had been in the order of 30 million tonnes, which even by a conservative estimate, is worth Rs. 22,000 crore or 30 per cent of the State budget,” he said.

The State Government's “cover up” of the mining mafia to appease the Bellary Ministers' faction has meant that illegal consignments of iron ore have disappeared from right under the nose of the State Government and judiciary, he added.

State Secretary CPI(M) V.J.K. Nair and State Secretariat members G.V. Srirama Reddy and G.N. Nagaraj spoke.

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