Monday, Aug 19, 2002
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Karnataka
By Our Special Correspondent
They also made a crude attempt to debunk the Lokayukta's preliminary findings of large-scale misuse of funds in the two CMCs and also the others around Bangalore, following raids, through expressions of mass support for Mr. Krishnappa. They played up the development programmes launched by him in the constituency. Even the CPI(M), which had won the Varthur seat in 1983, came in for severe attack, though its strength has waned in the State. The Urban Development Minister, D.K. Shivakumar, was present to defend his colleague at a rally held at Krishnarajapuram today. The Congress party workers and others tried to blame the former JD(U) minister and MLA from Varthur, Ashwathanarayana Reddy, and his brother-in-law, the BJP leader, B.V. Ramachandra Reddy (also a former MLA from Varthur), for the "baseless" allegations against Mr. Krishnappa. They bore animosity towards Mr. Krishnappa and were jealous of his rise in the constituency, they said. The Lokayukta, N. Venkatachala, had, in person, directed the raids on the Krishnarajapuram and Mahadevapura CMCs on July 1 and detected misuse of funds running to crores of rupees. The Opposition parties had, on the floor of the Legislature, quantified the misuse at Rs. 250 crore and alleged that unscrupulous officials withdrew excess funds from the treasury. They had demanded Mr. Krishnappa's dismissal on the ground that he was deeply involved in the affairs of the civic bodies in the Varthur constituency. In his reply in the Legislative Assembly, the Chief Minister, S.M. Krishna, had promised to place the report of the Lokayukta before the House and take action against the guilty officials. He did not respond to the demand for action against his minister. In his speech, Mr. Shivakumar blamed the Janata Dal administration for the misuse of funds in the CMCs and said that a special task force would be constituted to inquire into allegations of misuse of funds in all the town and city municipal councils around Bangalore that took place during 1995-99 (Janata Dal rule). He also echoed the charge that the Opposition parties were targeting Mr. Krishnappa because of popularity in the constituency. Mr. Shivakumar said there was no substance in the charges being levelled by the former Prime Minister and JD(S) leader, H.D. Deve Gowda, and the Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly, Jagadish Shettar, against the Government. Mr. Krishnappa presided over the meeting which was attended by the ministers, C.R. Sageer Ahmed, R. Roshan Baig, Ramalinga Reddy, and V. Muniyappa, Prasanna Kumar, MLA, K.B. Munivenkata Reddy, MLC, and others. Mr. Krishnappa's contribution to the development of Varthur constituency (which includes parts of Bangalore), according to his supporters, were creation of Bangalore East taluk, construction of a 100-bed government hospital at Krishnarajapuram, provision of water-supply, opening of schools, colleges, anganwadis, and community halls, installation of bright streetlights and high-mast lights, starting of bus services, tarring of roads, distribution of Ashraya houses to the very poor, and so on.
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