From Our Special Correspondent
Daijiworld Media Network - Bangalore
Bangalore, Oct 21: Hitting out at the BJP regime in Karnataka and preparing the ground for next year’s no-holds-barred battle of assembly polls, the State Congress leaders on Sunday launched a full-scale verbal assault by alleging that the four-year BJP rule in the State was a total failure on all fronts and alleged that as many as 10 to 15 ministers, including former chief minister B S Yeddyurappa, were involved in ''looting thousands of crores of public funds meant for developmental works.”
Congress opposition leader in the state assembly Siddaramaiah, KPCC President Dr G Parameshwara and other State Congress leaders, who addressed a public meeting in the city in connection with the State Congress Unit’s programmame – Congressnodige Banni, Badalavane Tanni (Come with Congress, Bring About Change) – targeted Yeddyurappa and present Deputy Chief Minister R Ashok, who is in charge of Home and Transport, and other ministers for their alleged involvement in various scams, land irregularities and other illegal deals.
Siddaramaiah alleged that Ashok had built a ''palatial’’ bungalow by spending Rs 50 crore at Padmanabhanagar in the City and was one the 15 ministers who looted thousands of crore of rupees meant for development works.
The Congress opposition leader in the assembly sarcastically asked if Ashok’s father was an ''emperor to construct the house spending Rs 50 crore?”
''From where he (Ashok) did got so much money? The Home Minister encroached the tank area and illegally constructed houses,” Siddaramaiah alleged.
He accused former Yeddyurappa of ''owning assets worth of Rs 4,000 to Rs 5,000 crore which was beyond his source of income.”
Ministers B N Bachne Gowda, Shoba Karandlaje, Murugesh Nirani and former Minister Katta Subramanya Naidu also plundered the State exchequer. BJP MLAs such H Halappa, Krishnaiah Setty, Krishna Palemar, Ramachandra Gowda, C C Patil, Laxman Savadi were involved in one or the other controversy and tendered resignations.
“All these are brainless and shameless fellows,” Siddarmaiah contended.
The scam-hit BJP government has miserably failed to provide regular electricity, drinking water, good roads and ration cards and hosing to below poverty line families, Siddaramaiah said.
Referring to Congress President Sonia Gandhi’s statement in Mangalore that the Centre had granted Rs 80,000 crore to the State in the last four years under various centrally sponsored schemes, Dr Parameshwara alleged that the Government had misappropriated huge amount of money.
The KPCC Chief said the people were fed up with the corrupt and most inefficient BJP rule and were determined to throw them out lock-stock-and-barrel in the coming elections.
The JD(S), which benefitted due to the hung assembly verdict in the 2004 assembly polls and was responsible for the rise of BJP in State, would not secure more than 30 seats in the coming Assembly elections.
All structured constructed on encroached government lands would be demolished if the Congress come to power after the elections.
Congress leader B L Shankar hit out at Ashok for the rising crime graph in Bangalore and the mess in collection of garbage in the city. ''From being a garden city and pensioners’ paradise, Bangalore has now been reduced to the dubious distinction of being a garbage city,” he said.
Bangalore District Congress President and MLA Dinesh Gundu Rao and former Minister and MLA Ramalingareddy urged the KPCC president and Siddaramaiah to issue tickets to loyal party leaders in the coming elections.
Siddaramaiah said KPCC General Secretary Gurappa Naidu is the most likely candidate of the party from Padmanabhanagar constituency in the next elections.
Former Ministers B K Chandrashekar, H M Revanna and KPCC secretary B Gurappa Naidu were present.