Taking serious exception to Public Works Minister C.M. Udasi’s comments on the contribution of the Janata Dal (Secular) towards providing relief to those affected by the floods in 2009, the party’s State president H.D. Kumaraswamy has said his party has nothing to learn from the former.
Mr. Kumaraswamy told presspersons here on Sunday that the party had ensured supply of truckloads of foodgrains to the flood affected in north Karnataka apart from providing financial assistance to several families.
‘Not an achievement’
“What Mr. Udasi is terming as an achievement of the BJP government is not at all an achievement. We all know which all companies and philanthropic organisations contributed for building houses for the affected. The BJP government increased VAT by 1.5 per cent to mobilise funds for flood relief. This increase in VAT is still in force though the purpose for which it was hiked has been served,” he said.
Referring to the visits made by Mr. Udasi and his son to his official residence when he was the Chief Minister, Mr. Kumaraswamy said the purpose of Mr. Udasi’s early morning visits to his residence was to get land in Bangalore for his son’s real estate business rather than to raise issues concerning his constituency or the general public.
Mr. Kumaraswamy said the “drought study tours” by three teams led by the former Chief Ministers B.S. Yeddyurappa and D.V. Sadananda Gowda, and Minister R. Ashok were nothing but preparation for the next Assembly elections. The State government had no long-term plan to tackle drought. It was more interested in utilising the situation to canvass for the BJP, he alleged.
Loan waiver scheme
Mr. Kumaraswamy charged that the loan waiver scheme announced by the BJP government (as a drought relief measure) was nothing but another move to deceive farmers of the State.
“The guidelines of the loan waiver scheme are yet to be formulated and the authorities are saying that funds for loan waiver will be released only in June-July 2013, which means that the scheme will not take off during the present government’s tenure,” he said.
Taking a dig at the government’s drought relief measures, Mr. Kumaraswamy said there were a lot of irregularities in the procurement of fodder from Odisha for distribution in the State. “Supply of low quality seeds is another big scam,” he said.
He also criticised the Union government for its failure to provide assistance to the State.
‘No governance’
Going by the recent developments, it appears that there is no governance in the State, he said.
Recalling his recent telephonic conversation with Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar, Mr. Kumaraswamy said Mr. Shettar expressed his inability to keep the Transport Minister under control, and because of this people of the State faced hardships during the strike called by transport staff.
To a query, Mr. Kumaraswamy said the JD(S) had begun preparations for the next Assembly elections and it was expecting to win at least 40 to 45 seats in Bombay Karnataka and Hyderabad Karnataka regions.
Former Ministers Basavaraj Horatti and Alkod Hanumanthapp were present.
