Janata Dal (Secular) leader and former Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy has demanded to know why the Bharatiya Janata Party central leadership, which has brought the Lok Sabha to a standstill over the 2G spectrum scam, is dithering over taking action on the party's Chief Minister in Karnataka and his Cabinet colleagues implicated in a series of land denotification scandals.
Speaking to presspersons here on Thursday after being re-elected president of the Karnataka unit of the party, Mr. Kumaraswamy said Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa cannot get away by instituting a judicial inquiry, since he “has absolutely no moral right to continue in power after being involved in scandals worth thousands of crores.”
Mr. Kumaraswamy was equally scathing in his attack on the Congress leadership, which was “in a stupor” at both the Central and State levels. “Why is the Centre silent despite repeated reports from the Governor on the government's misdeeds?” he asked.
Another election is imminent in Karnataka, and the Janata Dal (Secular) did not need the support of any other party in proving to the people that it is “a party that matters,” according to him.
Singular campaign
“I have no hesitation in declaring that we are a party campaigning singularly to oust this corrupt government,” he said, adding that the party “is relevant to people” whether or not in power.
Stating that he was “per se” not questioning denotification of land, Mr. Kumaraswamy said that he was only opposed to denotifications done by Mr. Yeddyurappa and some of his Cabinet colleagues to favour their close relatives.
Speaking on the government's programme of distributing saris to Bhagyalakshmi scheme beneficiaries, he said that money being spent on rallies and advertisements was far higher than what was spent to buy the saris, with an eye of zilla panchayat and taluk panchayat elections. “The Chief Minister is busy distributing saris when people in north Karnataka hit by the floods continue to live in temporary sheds,” he said.