Former CMs Kumaraswamy, Basavaraj Bommai attack Congress govt at joint press conference

BENGALURU: Former chief ministers H D Kumaraswamy of the JD(S) and Basavaraj Bommai of the BJP on Friday together attacked the Congress government in the state on the issue of deploying senior IAS officers to receive some leaders of opposition parties during the meeting held recently and other issues.

At a joint press conference at the JD(S) legislature party office at the Vidhana Soudha, the former CMs said offficials were being misused in the name of protocol and added that the values of debating in the House are falling.

“Former IAS officer Madan Gopal had highlighted the same issue. Things could have been sorted out in two minutes, but it became issue for the Congress. It was not right to continue proceedings without breaking for lunch. It seemed like they wanted to teach us a lesson and were treating us like schoolchildren”, Kumaraswamy said.

Referring to the ruckus in the Asssembly by BJP members on Wednesday, Kumaraswamy asked, “Hadn’t the current Deputy CM thrown paper in the Assembly? Hadn’t they snatch microphones? The CM addressed empty benches yesterday. Time should have been allotted for discussing the drought situation, but it was not allowed. Farmers are also bearing the brunt as the Congress government in the state has stopped the state’s share of Rs 4,000 under the Kisan Samman Nidhi”, he pointed out.

Referring to Congress MLA T B Jayachandra’s remarks in the Assembly on Thursday on the NICE Road issue, Kumaraswamy said a House committee headed by Jayachandra had submitted a report in this regard. “The government is not implementing the report and taking action against Nandi Infrastructure Corridor Enterprise (NICE). If questions are raised why I did not take action when I headed the coalition government, I have to say my hands were tied. I don’t know what sort of adjustments they had”, the former CM said.

“The House committee report says Rs 1,325 crore was collected illegally and recommends that the government should recover it. I appreciate Basavaraj Bommai, as, during his time as CM, the government showed some interest in pursuing the case due to which NICE suffered a setback. We had sought time to discuss the NICE, but we were not allowed to do so. The government should take back the 2,000 acres allotted to NICE for developing townships and hand over the case to the CBI”, Kumaraswamy said.

Former CM and BJP leader Basavaraj Bommai said all further land acquisitions for the project should be stopped. “All excess land should be recovered, audited and action initiated. The authorities should also stop issuing notices where BDA layouts have come up and the government should make its stand very clear on the future of the project and farmers, and audit the toll being levied on citizens. The government should respect senior Congress leader Jayachandra’s statement and clarify if they will take action”, he said.

Bommai said if the government gives a flippant reply, the needle of suspicion will point towards it. “The Congress was in power earlier too when the project was taken up. If the government does not act, the Congress should stop claiming that they are not corrupt. This case is a test for clean administration and the government should make its stand clear and take timebound action”, he added.

Kumaraswamy also attacked the Congress government on the Brand Bengaluru plan. He added that the JD(S) and BJP have decided to jointly fight as an opposition both inside and outside the Assembly. On fighting the Lok Sabha polls together, he said, “There’s still 11 months to go, there’s no need to talk about it now”.