Bengaluru: Janata Dal (Secular) chief H.D. Kumaraswamy claimed on Saturday that the state government was using rowdies to extort nearly Rs 200 crore a month from tourists at check -posts along Karnataka's borders to help the Congress party fund the coming assembly elections.
“This Rs 1,000 crore business is being carried out to raise funds for the assembly polls. If the government does not stop this extortion we will lay siege to these check posts and close them down,” he warned.
While many states had closed their check posts after the Centre introduced the uniform Goods and Services Tax, Karnataka did no such thing, he observed. “On the contrary four rowdies have been posted at every check post to collect money from vehicles arriving from other states,” he alleged, adding that the transport minister did not take any action although the practice was brought to his notice.
“We can’t sit quiet. We will take action. We warn the government to immediately curb this menace. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah always poses like an honest politician but after seeing this extortion, one has to say he is fake. He speaks about honesty, but wears shoes costing Rs 60,000 to Rs 70,000,” he charged. Mr Kumaraswamy also claimed that many BJP MLAs, who were upset with the party, were in touch with him.
The JD(S) leader announced that he would launch several initiatives including an exclusive app to make use of social media in the run-up to the 2018 poll.
A. Devegowda joins BJP
Janata Dal (S) leader, A. Devegowda, who joined the Bharatiya Janata Party here on Saturday, has reportedly been offered a ticket for the Legislative Council elections from the Bengaluru Graduates’ constituency by the party.
Senior leaders, R. Ashok and V. Somanna, were instrumental in inducting Mr. Devegowda into the BJP despite opposition to his entry from some sections and promised him the ticket for the council polls, according to party sources.
The move has brought to fore the lack of control that the state BJP has over its Bengaluru city unit, which allegedly answers to Union Minister Ananth Kumar and his team.
It is said that at a recent core committee meeting, the Union HRD minister had suggested that it consult the Sangh parivar before selecting candidates for the council polls and also urged it to consider party workers loyal to the parivar. But Mr. Ashok and Mr Somanna took their own decision to induct Mr. Devegowda and assured him a ticket for the council poll, sources added.
"In a previous core committee meeting, Mr. Ashok put forward Mr. Devegowda’s candidature from the Bengaluru graduates constituency, but faced opposition as he was still not in the party. So he and Somanna hurried to induct him ," they claimed.
