The former Prime Minister and Janata Dal (Secular) supremo, H.D. Deve Gowda, on Saturday said he would seek a discussion in Parliament on the alleged corrupt deeds of the B.S. Yeddyurappa regime.
Documentary evidence against the Bharatiya Janata Party government in Karnataka, compiled by the JD(S), is being sent to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi, apart from the BJP leaders L.K. Advani, Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley among others.
Mr. Gowda said he would raise the issue in the next Parliament session and threatened to stage a dharna if the BJP prevented a discussion. He wanted the BJP's national leadership, threatening to obstruct the Budget session over the 2G scam, to also consider the corruption indulged in by its own government.
He told presspersons that the JD(S) would not be a party to the NDA's plan to obstruct the session. “The corrupt deeds perpetrated by Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa in Karnataka will put the 2G scam to shame.”
Mr. Gowda said: “The actual amount involved in corrupt deeds in Karnataka under the BJP regime runs to more than Rs. 1 lakh crore, if the Bangalore-Mysore Infrastructure Corridor (BMIC), land denotifications and mining scandals are put together.” Further, these are not notional losses unlike the Rs. 1.76 lakh crore in the 2G scam. “These are direct losses and the victims are poor farmers and landowners. While the evidence in the 2G scam is based on hearsay and taped conversation, the instances of corruption by Mr. Yeddyurappa and his Cabinet colleagues are supported by direct documentary evidence.”
Though Mr. Yeddyurappa was trying to deflect the blame for his involvement in denotifying land and allotment of plots under G category by referring to similar action by predecessors, Mr. Gowda said the Chief Minister cannot wish away the direct documentary evidence against him.
He said Mr. Yeddyurappa and his Cabinet colleagues were also involved in the “loot” of the State's mineral resources. Every year, about 5 crore tons of iron ore worth Rs. 30,000 crore was illegally mined.
An inquiry should be conducted into all these acts of the BJP regime by a central agency like the CBI, Enforcement Directorate or the Customs, he demanded.
