New Delhi: Former Prime Minister HD Devegowda on Monday called for the immediate dismissal of the BS Yeddyurappa-led BJP government in Karnataka, accusing it of taking the practice of political horse-trading to a new low.
Addressing a press conference at the Press Club of India here, his second after four years, 77-year-old Devegowda predicted that Karnataka would “ suffer its darkest Deepawali” in its history because of the incumbent state government’s political skullduggery.
“The people of Karnataka can expect their darkest Deepawali this year, because of a new low of corruption that the state has witnessed in the last two years,” said the former Prime Minister.
“The BJP Government has established through ‘Operation Kamalar’ (Operation Lotus – the BJP party symbol), a unique form of horse-trading,” Devegowda added.
Recalling his 53 years of political life, he said he had tried to get all secular parties like the Congress and the Janata Dal (Secular), besides the Left parties, onto one political plank and work for the dismissal of the Yeddyurappa Government in the state.
“Nobody responded from Delhi, or at the state level to my request for secular parties to join hands,” he said, adding that he was aware of instances when some members of the state assembly had been tortured and forced to accept the dictates of the BJP Government in the state.
“I told the senior police officers that if they didn’t register a case, a day would come, when Karnataka law and order would descend to the level of what existed in Gujarat. The case was not registered,” Devegowda said.
He said he had taken up the issue in the Karnataka State Assembly and in Parliament, but to no avail.
He said that when he sought to raise the issue in Parliament under Rule 193, the House was adjourned sine die.
He also said he was shocked to see the Bangalore police commissioner and his officers enter the state assembly earlier this month in uniform, which was a first in Karnataka’s history, and its legislative history.
To prove his point, he referred to articles related to the recent political happenings in Karnataka that have appeared in the latest issues of the Outlook and India Today magazines. He said wasn’t this proof enough that the Outlook magazine has described Karnataka as the most corrupt state in India.
He said that his demand was for all secular and like-minded parties to join hands and nullify the effects of “Operation Kamalar”, and added that if this was not done promptly, Karnataka would most certainly go the way of Gujarat in terms of law and order and political instability.
“Karnataka will be another Gujarat if the Center does not step in and dismiss the BJP Government,” Devegowda concluded.
ANI
First Published: Monday, October 25, 2010, 15:40