Karnataka Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa has said that the charges made by Congress president Sonia Gandhi against his government are “baseless and made with an intention to tarnish the image of the government.”
In a letter to Ms. Gandhi, Mr. Yeddyurappa said: “I have come across reports attributed to your kind self criticising the Government of Karnataka led by me, once at the Parliament House and then in the Congress Parliamentary Board Meeting on December 12. At the outset, I would like to make it clear that I have utmost respect and regards for your kind self and the Prime Minister. However, I consider it my duty to clarify certain things and remove the misgivings.”
At the two meetings, Ms. Gandhi had labelled the Karnataka government “corrupt.”
‘Send me proof'
Mr. Yeddyurappa said:
“What baffles me is that these charges have been levelled by persons occupying significant public office as important as the Chief of UPA, which runs the present Central government. I would like to know whether there is any proof or evidence to prove these charges, and if there is any, I request you to send the same to enable me to place the record straight.
“All that is said of me and my government are only allegations and there is no prima facie case made out, unlike in the 2G spectrum and other scams faced by the UPA government. Why is the UPA government shying away from the JPC [joint parliamentary committee probe] if [it is] confident of coming out clean?
“Apart from the 2G spectrum scam, involving Rs.1.76 lakh crore, the Central government is neck-deep in various other scams like the CWG scam involving several hundred crores, the Adarsh Flats scam etc. Under these circumstances, is it fair on your part to point towards others about corruption?”
Mining issue
The Chief Minister said the mining issue drew the attention of the nation recently.
“In fact, Karnataka is the first State in the country to bring out a new mining policy which provides for value addition and imposing a ban on the export of iron ore. I had appealed to the Prime Minister to impose the ban on the export of iron ore and other minerals and instead encourage value addition. The Central government did not respond to our request positively. Hence, I went ahead with the ban on export of iron ore from 10 ports of our State, which was subsequently upheld by the Karnataka High Court,” he said.
Mr. Yeddyurappa noted that the Union government had recognised the performance of the Karnataka government by conferring various awards, cash prizes and other recognitions in the last two and a half years of BJP rule in the State.
“Is it possible to achieve success and get recognition from the Central government itself if at all the government was inefficient and corrupt? I am bringing these things to your kind notice only to remove the misgivings and request you to desist from levelling charges against Karnataka,” he said.
