BJP on Monday charged Karnataka Governor H.R. Bhardwaj with “excessive interference” in the administrative affairs of his state and held him responsible for the “aggravated” political situation there.
“The Governor is the problem. Constitutionally, he has exceeded his limits,” BJP spokesperson Nirmala Seetharam told reporters here.
The saffron party has been dogged by illegal mining of iron ore in Bellary and the alleged involvement of cabinet ministers, the Reddy brothers, in that, allowing opposition Congress and JD(S) to take up the issue and even stall the Assembly proceedings.
Ms. Seetharaman alleged that “excessive interference” by Bharadwaj, who had even appraised President Pratibha Patil of the political climate in the state recently, had “aggravated” the issue.
“Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa had assured of action (into illegal mining) and the Lok Ayukta is looking into it,’ she said.
She refrained from commenting on the role of Reddy brothers’ role in the entire issue, but said the Lok Ayukta was probing. She denied the issue had resulted in any “crisis” in the party in Karnataka.
“There may be problems (in party and government) which are common to all. But there is no crisis,” she said.
On the attack on a TV channel allegedly by RSS workers in New Delhi last week for airing reports of terror charges against some of its leaders, Ms. Seetharaman said “the reports lacked corroboration” and alleged there was no verification of facts.
Ms. Seetharaman also slammed Congress for criticising her party president Nitin Gadkari who had asked Congress if Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru was its son-in-law.
Congress’s failure to explain the four-year delay in the execution of his death showed its’ “arrogance.”, she said. “We had raised a key national security-related issue. Instead of replying, they are criticising us,” she said.
Speaking on issues relating to Tamil Nadu, she expressed concern on spurious drugs and fake marksheets cases and asked Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi to act quickly.
BJP state unit, which has been holding protests across the state demanding scholarship benefits to Hindu school students on par with minority students, will continue such protests throughout this month and national leaders including Navjiot Singh Sidhu and Smriti Irani would participate, she added.
