The district units of the Congress and the BJP traded allegations and counter-allegations on Thursday over statements made by MLA B.A. Mohiuddin Bava and the former Minister Krishna J. Palemar about each other.
More than a week ago, Mr. Bava had linked Mr. Palemar to certain commissions paid for projects in the constituency during his tenure as MLA which led to the stopping of developmental projects there.
Dismissing the allegations in a press conference on Thursday, Mr. Palemar instead alleged that the Mr. Bava was “unethically” taking government contracts for projects in his constituency. “His (Mr. Bava’s) company Bava Mines and Minerals took the sub-contract for works in Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemical Limited. As an MLA this is wrong,” he said.
Addressing presspersons almost immediately in the Congress election office, the Mangalore North MLA said that his firm took the contract nearly four years ago. “But when I got the party ticket, I handed over the work to another agency. The allegations are baseless,” he said.
DevelopmentThe two similar charges on developmental projects in the constituency. Previously, Mr. Bava had alleged that no developmental projects had been undertaken in Mangalore North constituency under Mr. Palemar. The former Minister claimed to have brought in nearly Rs. 500 crore for the constituency. “And, the current MLA claims he is unique in the State for getting an assurance that Rs. 3 crore will be given to the constituency,” he said.
However, Mr. Bava later claimed it was “his initiative” to get contractors to restart projects suspended for non-payment of funds. He was joined by District in-charge B. Ramanath Rai, who said numerous loan packages and road funds were allotted by his government.
Law and order became another bone of contention. While the incumbent MLA claimed that women could now walk around “freely” in his constituency; the former MLA alleged crime had shot up in the past year. “Over 86 criminal cases have been registered at the Surathkal Police Station, of which nine pertain to cattle theft. During my time, there wasn’t even a single case of cattle theft,” he claimed.
