Pics: Spoorthi Ullal
Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru (ANK)

Mangaluru, Feb 20: Dakshina Kannada BJP on Monday February 20 staged protest near DC's office here against the Congress government in the state on the issue of rampant corruption.

Addressing the protestors, MP Nalin Kumar Kateel said, "The state cabinet led by chief minister Siddaramaiah is filled with corrupt ministers. Their corruption will result in the Congress party's demise in the state. They have failed to live up to the expectations of the people. Within two months, most of the Congress ministers will jump to the BJP which will bring an end to Congress in the state.

"Siddaramaiah's government has been in power for four years. He had assured to give corruption-free administration and had also taken a keen part in a padayatra to curb corruption in the state, but today Congress ministers themselves are involved in corruption charges. Earlier when Siddarammiah was in JD(S), he was frequently blaming the Congress, and after JD(S) sidelined Siddaramaiah, he soon joined Congress with the motive to destroy the party," he said.

"Senior leaders like S M Krishna have resigned from Congress, and now Janardhan Poojary and Jaffer Sharief have been sidelined, which indicates the critical condition of the Congress at present.
Even Siddaramaiah has lot of charges against him, for instance, the watch issue which Siddaramaiah tried to hide by issuing a bill of Rs one crore. IT sleuths raided the residences of Congress woman's wing president Laxmi Hebbalkar and minister Ramesh Jarakiholi. IT sleuths have found illegal property worth Rs 162 crore, 42 lac cash and 12 kg of gold at Laxmi Hebbalkar's residence, but still, instead of sacking such ministers, the CM is frequently defending the wrongdoings of party members, for which he should be ashamed off.

"The state has been witnessing scams worth crores by sand mafia and land mafia. The union government has sanctioned Rs 163 crore from Amrut scheme but some ministers are trying to merge it with UGD project. Siddaramaiah is also accused of taking Rs 150 crore as kickbacks for sanctioning the controverisal steel flyover in Bengaluru. Of the Rs 150 crore, Rs 65 crore was paid to the party high command. Siddaramaiah is also adamant on implementing the Yettinahole project to destroy Dakshina Kannada and according to media reports, he has received kickbacks for Yettinahole project too," MP Kateel alleged.

Nalin Kumar Kateel also demanded the sacking of tainted ministers without delay. "If you (Siddaramaiah) do not do so, then definitely it will be the end of Congress party in the next six months," he said.

BJP spokesperson Sulochana Bhat said, "Siddaramaiah will survive only for another three months. Siddaramaiah is claiming that he does not face any charges, but what about the watch scam and the lab scam? And recently, the IT sleuths raided a minister's residence where illegal money and property were found. Siddarammiah is repeatedly defending these ministers. Senior Congress leaders are blaming Siddarammiah for his frequent faliures. S M Krishna resigned after Congress sidelined the senior leader. The state is witnessing atrocities on women, with nearly 2,260 cases registered. Everyone is aware of the incident on New Year's Eve, but home minister Parameshwara blamed western culture for this incident."

BJP leader Yogish Bhat said, "Senior Congress leader B Janardhan Poojary has been pointing out the mistakes of Siddaramaiah, which needs to be appreciated. If Siddrammaih had taken Poojary's advice, he would not have reached this state. Congress should be ashamed that it could not even respect S M Krishna for his contribution and he had to resign. Siddramaiah has become the talking point ever since Yeddyurappa revealed his secret of paying Rs 65 crore to the party high command and also sanctioning the controversial steel flyover project in Bengaluru for kickbacks, which indicates that the CM is one of the most corrupt ministers in the state."

BJP district president Sanjeeva Matandoor, Nagaraj Shetty, Padmanabha Kottari and others were present.