The Hindu
HUBLI, Dec 22: Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa has said he will file a defamation suit against former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda for his remarks that “the Chief Minister was hand in glove with NICE in looting people.”
Yeddyurappa was speaking to press persons before participating in the Akhila Karnataka Kshatriya Sadbhavana Habba organised at Nehru Stadium here on Sunday.
Taking serious exception to the comments passed by Gowda that NICE had funded “Operation Kamala” and was also funding the byelections, the Chief Minister said he would consult senior lawyers and legal experts and file a defamation suit against the former Prime Minister. edduyrappa said Gowda’s allegation was baseless.
The Chief Minister also termed the charge of the Opposition that the BJP was misusing government machinery as baseless. He said they (Opposition parties) had realised that they would suffer defeat in the elections and in their desperation were making baseless statements.
Yeddyurappa said that not a single mining licence was issued after he took oath as Chief Minister. He said he would be meeting the Lokayukta soon to request him to conduct a thorough inquiry into the mining irregularities.
To a query on the involvement of political leaders in the looting of the mineral wealth as mentioned in the Lokayukta report, Mr. Yeddyurappa said there was no question of sparing anybody however influential he might be. Already a three-member committee had been constituted to act on the findings of the report, he said.
On the agitation over the “high toll” fixed by NICE, the Chief Minister said the agreement on fixing toll was finalised during the previous governments. Both Janata Dal (S) and the Congress were responsible for the high toll fixed by the company. It was because of the wrong decisions of the previous governments that officials had got censured by the Supreme Court, he said. However, the Government would take steps to get the toll reduced, the Chief Minister said.
Ready for debate
Former Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy has said that he is ready for a debate with Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa on the NICE controversy.
Addressing a press conference here on Sunday, Mr. Kumaraswamy said that all chief ministers from the time of S.M. Krishna, except him, were responsible for today’s situation created by NICE.