The Hindu : National : Gowda alleges bias in development

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Monday, Jun 27, 2011
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National

Gowda alleges bias in development

S. Rajendran

The Janata Dal (S) supremo will begin an indefinite dharna today

Six Janata Dal (Secular) legislators from Hassan district to join Deve Gowda in the protest
Kumaraswamy geared up for ‘truth test' although the Chief Minister has decided not to take it

H.D. Deve Gowda

Bangalore: Janata Dal (Secular) president and former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda, much to the discomfort of the Bharatiya Janata Party, will stage an indefinite dharna near the residence of Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa from Monday to drive home the point that development works being undertaken across the districts are based on political affiliations of local legislators and MPs.

Even as this is expected to lead to another round of embarrassment to the Government, his son and former Chief Minister, H.D. Kumaraswamy, is geared up to take a “truth test” at Dharmasthala despite the fact that the Chief Minister has pulled out of the challenge made to his predecessor about a week ago.

Ministers and legislators of the BJP and legislators of the Janata Dal (Secular) will be present in strength at Dharmasthala on Monday to back their respective leaders, with Mr. Yeddyurappa also expected to offer prayers at the temple before leaving for Kukke Subramanya to inaugurate development works.

In Bangalore, given the rules that permission shall not be granted for staging a protest near the office or residence of the Chief Minister, the Bangalore police are unlikely to permit the dharna and consequently the former Prime Minister will face arrest.

Those who would join Mr. Gowda are six Janata Dal (Secular) legislators from Hassan district, apart from the former Home Minister P.G.R. Sindhia.

Mr. Gowda told The Hindu that he was firm on staging the dharna and was ready for arrest.

Thus, even as the Yeddyurappa Government is seeking to come out of the spell of embarrassment arising out of an advertisement issued last weekend to challenge Mr. Kumaraswamy to face a “truth test”, the Government is expected to face another round of problems with Mr. Gowda himself stepping into the arena.

In Hassan too

It is another matter that the former Prime Minister had staged a dharna in Hassan on June 22 and had also issued an ultimatum to the State Government to resolve the demands placed by him failing which he would repeat the dharna in front of the Chief Minister's residence.

It is rather strange for a Government, which has been harping on the “development mantra” since the day it assumed office, to be accused of shoddy treatment to a district in which five of the seven MLAs are from the Janata Dal (Secular) and the others from the Congress.

Mr. Yeddyurappa, who initially dismissed lightly the charge of development works in Hassan being neglected, is expected to conduct a review of the works undertaken in the district on July 1 along with district in-charge Minister V. Somanna.

It is not the first time that Mr. Gowda has sought to lead demonstrations. In January 2010, he sought to stage a dharna near the Chief Minister's residence against the acquisition of land in excess of the framework agreement for the Bangalore-Mysore expressway project.

Mr. Yeddyurappa gave in and held a meeting. In October 2003 when the S.M. Krishna government was in power, Mr. Gowda sought to stage a dharna complaining against the law and order situation in Hassan district and it was avoided with the government of the day giving in.

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