BJP accuses K'taka govt of 'misusing' authority to implicate its leaders

Bengaluru: Accusing the Karnataka government of "misusing" the authority to implicate its leaders, the Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday submitted a memorandum to the governor, urging him to intervene in the matter.

They accused the Congress government in the state, led by Siddaramaiah, of violating the constitutional mandate by indulging in "unethical" acts like phone-tapping of its political opponents, hoisting "false" cases against them, "engineering" complaints through the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) and "pseudo" Right to Information (RTI) activists.

The BJP leaders met Governor Vajubhai Vala days after the ACB registered a case against the state unit president of the party, BS Yeddyurappa.

The case was lodged in connection with the de-notification of over 257 acres of land at the Dr K Shivaram Karanth Layout in northern Bengaluru, when Yeddyurappa was the chief minister between May, 2008 and July, 2011.

The case against the BJP leader was based on a complaint from a member of the 'Jana Samanya Vedike', a social organisation.

Also, a senior Karnataka Administrative Service officer, on Saturday, had alleged that he was "pressured" by ACB officers to give a statement against Yeddyurappa in connection with the case.

The memorandum urges the governor to intervene and order a high-level inquiry by an agency, which is independent of the state government, against the ACB officers concerned and put an end to the agency being "misused politically".

The BJP leaders, under the leadership of Union minister Ananth Kumar, opposition leaders Jagadish Shettar and KS Eshwarappa, marched to the Raj Bhavan, and submitted the memorandum to the governor.

Speaking to reporters after meeting the governor, Kumar accused Siddaramaiah of "creating an atmosphere of an undeclared emergency" in Karnataka.

"We have informed the governor in detail about how the Siddaramaiah-led Congress government is conspiring against our leader Yeddyurappa through false allegations and false cases by using the ACB," he said.

Kumar also termed the state government as "anti-democratic".

Opposition Leader in the Assembly Shettar alleged that the complaint against Yeddyurappa was received, the FIR lodged and summons issued in a matter of few days, "which clearly indicates that the ACB is being misused for political reasons".

"I would like to ask the ACB and the chief minister that of the over 25 complaints filed against the latter in the last one year, how many have been inquired into so far, how many FIRs have been lodged and in which of these cases, a summons has been issued?

"No inquiry against the chief minister or his ministers, as also against certain IAS officers...but, soon after receiving a complaint against Yeddyurappa, you have swung into action. This shows that it is politically motivated," he alleged.

In the six-page memorandum, the BJP has accused the government of tapping the phones of its political opponents "by misusing the legal provisions and abusing its authority".

It has also accused Siddaramaiah of using a team of officers and "political appointees" for this purpose.

The saffron party has also accused the government of "failure" to prevent the anti-social elements from killing the RSS activists in the state, especially in the coastal region.

The BJP has been alleging that the ACB is being used by the Karnataka government to target the opposition party, "in retaliation" to the recent Income Tax raids at Energy Minister DK Shivakumar's properties.