Former Prime Minister and national president of the Janata Dal (Secular), H. D. Deve Gowda today took a dig at the austerity measures recently advocated by Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee for both MPs and ministers as part of resource mobilisation efforts.
“Can resource mobilisation happen with such one-time measures. It has to be a sustained effort and requires much more than such inconsequential measures”,he told reporters here. Instead, he suggested that the Union Finance Ministry “constitute a committee for resource mobilisation and we will give our suggestions“.
Mr. Gowda also accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in the State of “violating” the High Court order on a Hindu-Muslim shrine at Bababudangiri hills in Chikmagalur district. He alleged that Minister for Energy K. S. Eshwarappa along with BJP state president D. V. Sadananda Gowda and BJP MLA, C. T. Ravi had performed rituals and installed idol of Dattatreya in the prohibited area. He termed it as “not only contempt of court, but also a disgrace to communal harmony“.
He asked Chief Minister B. S. Yeddyurappa to take immediate cognisance of the matter and “act upon it, ensuring that all his cabinet collegues and party members abide by the interim court order passed by Karnataka High Court on November 18, 2006 to maintain status quo”.
