Legislature party meetings take place across the board

BJP decides to sustain intensity of its attack against the government; JD(S) members asked to actively participate in debates

While the Congress government is facing brickbats from the Opposition parties inside and outside the legislature on various issues, its reverberations were felt even in the Congress Legislature Party meeting here on Wednesday.

According to information gathered here, Yeshwantpur MLA S.T. Somashekhar alleged that Minister for Minor Irrigation Shivaraj S. Tangadagi had transferred an engineer after receiving illegal gratification. Taking his complaint seriously, the Chief Minister said the transfer order would be cancelled immediately.

Bangarpet MLA Narayanaswamy complained that Minister for Horticulture Shamanur Shivashankarappa had managed to divert nearly Rs. 135 crore to his district out of the total Rs. 235 crore released under the Rural Development Infrastructure Fund (RDIF) from the NABARD. Then came the allegation from MLAs Malikayya Guttedar and K.B. Koliwad that some Ministers were seeking commission of 5 to 8 per cent for release of grants for various works. MLA Vijayananda Kashappanavar complained of ‘highhandedness’ of Minister for IT, BT S.R. Patil.

BJP meet

Meanwhile the legislature party meeting of the principal Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party decided to sustain the intensity of its attack against the government. To achieve this, the party has decided to corner the government on fresh issues.

Leader of the Opposition Jagadish Shettar told presspersons after the meeting that the party had listed series of issues related to the alleged failure of the government. These would be taken up in the remaining period of the legislature session here. This would include the illegal sand extraction mafia, corruption, alleged failure of law and order, among other issues.

He said the party had directed the MLAs from the northern region to actively participate in the exclusive discussion on north Karnataka issues scheduled on December 15 and 16 in the Assembly.

JD(S) LP meeting

In the Janata Dal (Secular) legislature party meeting chaired by State president H.D. Kumaraswamy, the members were asked to actively participate in the debates on issues concerning development of north Karnataka, and to put up a show of strength when the situation demands it.