INTERVIEW-Dharmendra Pradhan: ‘Karnataka episode had embarrassed the BJP’!

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zeenews.india.com / Last Updated: Tuesday, August 23, 2011, 22:24.

Observers say Karnataka is BJP’s raw nerve. It has now been a month since Karnataka got a new Chief Minister ending yet another crisis for the BJP after frantic efforts by party top brass. But trouble in the Karnataka unit of BJP is refusing to die down. Saswat Panigrahi of Zeenews.com caught up with BJP national general secretary and party’s key trouble shooter, who micromanages the party affairs in Karnataka.

Saswat: Crisis and Karnataka BJP go hand in hand. Sometime, it is ‘Reddy-made’, sometime it is ‘Bharadwaj-made’ and sometime it is ‘Yeddy-made’. After you became the Prabhari, you must be having a tough time in steering the Karnataka unit out of troubles.

Dharmendra: There is no trouble as such. In the recent past, the party has faced certain political developments and tackled those quite effectively. By taking everything into consideration, the party has taken a stand. Now, the new Chief Minister has taken up his task. The party and legislative party, both are behind the new leadership. Things are gradually limping back to normalcy.

The party has made promises to the people of Karnataka. For the last three years, we have been fulfilling those promises and we will continue to fulfil them.

Saswat: Initially there were demands about Yeddyurappa’s removal. The Governor also recommended the same. But with the leaked Lokayukta report, BJP finally replaced him. What actually led to his removal?

Rest at,

http://zeenews.india.com/news/exclusive/karnataka-episode-had-embarrassed-the-bjp_727834.html

         

NEW KARNATAKA CABINET: Karnataka gets 21 ministers, no Reddy Brothers!

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Maya Sharma, Updated: August 08, 2011 18:26 IST.

Bangalore:  It was raining the day BS Yeddyurappa walked to the Karnataka Raj Bhawan to submit his resignation. That set in motion fast-paced political developments, drama and dissidence that culminated in the swearing in of 21 Cabinet ministers today. It rained again.

Among the first to take oath was Jagadish Shettar, the man who became the rallying point of a rebellion within the BJP against Mr Yeddyurappa and his close aide Sadananda Gowda, who is now Chief Minister. Mr Shettar was the man 55 of the BJP's 121 MLAs wanted as Chief Minister. About 10 more - 65 - voted for Mr Gowda last week in a secret ballot vote.

Sulking, most of the rebels boycotted Mr Gowda's swearing in ceremony last Friday. As a result, Mr Gowda was sworn in without any ministers, despite a braveheart effort to walk into the rebels' den and make peace. Since then, the rebel camp has sulked and held strategy meetings at Mr Shettar's house negotiating for plum posts.

Today's ceremony thus brings some respite to the Chief Minister. The set of 21 ministers sworn in today include people both from the Yeddyurappa-Gowda camp and the Ananth-Kumar-Shettar camp. All of them were ministers in the last Cabinet.

Not on the list today are the Reddy brothers and their close aide Sriramulu, who face charges even more serious than Mr Yeddyurappa does in the Lokayukta's report on illegal mining. It is believed that the BJP's central leadership is not keen on their inclusion in the Cabinet, especially after Mr Yeddyurappa bowed to party wishes and resigned after being indicted in the report. The BJP is waging a larger, bitter war against the UPA at the Centre on the issue of corruption and can ill-afford to have chinks in its armour.

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KARNATAKA MINING SCAM: SC ‘no go’ to mining by private cos!

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August 6, 2011 / By S.S. NEGI, Age Correspondent, New Delhi / DC.

The Supreme Court on Friday refused to lift its ban order on iron ore mining in Bellary district of Karnataka by the private companies but permitted the central PSU, National Mineral Development Corporation to resuming it from Saturday under strict conditions for maintaining the supply to the domestic steel

industry. The top court said that the Karnataka government would charge the royalty from NMDC for the extracted iron ore at the rate of 10 per cent “per pit-head” current market rate fixed by the Indian Bureau of Mines and the revenue so generated would be used for restoration of environment and rehabilitation of affected people while making it clear that the PSU would not indulge in any export activity. A forest bench comprising Chief Justice of India S.H. Kapadia and Justices Aftab Alam and Swatanter Kumar, however, said that it was not taking up the report of Karnataka Lokayukta on illegal mining at this stage, saying its primary focus was on environment impact due to illegal mining.

“In order to balance the environment concerns with economic concerns and keep in mind the mandate of Article 21 of the Constitution, we are of the view that NMDC be allowed to operate its two mines with the production of one million tones from August 6. We may clarify that no part of the production will be exported,” the bench in an interim order said.

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http://www.deccanchronicle.com/channels/nation/north/sc-%E2%80%98no-go%E2%80%99-mining-private-cos-726

KARNATAKA POLITICS: Jagadish Shettar's price: Two deputies!

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August 6, 2011 / DC, Bengaluru.

With the Ananth Kumar-Jagadish Shettar camp refusing to back down over demands for the posts of two deputy chief ministers as well as 18-22 portfolios including finance, the BJP government under its new chief minister D V Sadananda Gowda continues to be in crisis.

A party source said they believed the Ananth Kumar camp was using the demand for the Deputy CMs posts for R Ashok and Shettar as a bargaining ploy and that their main aim was to wrest the finance and industry portfolios for their camp, adding “they knew very well that the high command will not accept the demand for DCM posts.”

However highly placed sources in the party said the rival B.S. Yeddyurappa camp had now stepped up attempts to break the Kumar-Shettar camp.

Former minister, M.P. Renukacharya, has reportedly sent feelers to some 20 MLAs including the 10 rebel MLAs, reinstated in the aftermath of the Supreme Court order. The sources also said that party senior leaders in New Delhi discouraged Mr. Shettar from coming to Delhi, telling him to sort out differences in Bengaluru.

The former chief minister said to be formulating his own list of nominees, strongly opposed the proposal by the Reddy brothers to induct their associates as proxies in the cabinet.

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http://www.deccanchronicle.com/channels/cities/bengaluru/jagadish-shettars-price-two-deputies-630

KARNATAKA POLITICS: Now it's fight for cabinet berths!

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Express News Service Last Updated : 05 Aug 2011 09:49:54 AM IST.

BANGALORE: After engaging themselves in a week-long battle for the CM's post, the factions within the state BJP are now fighting for their pie in the Cabinet.

As a result, D V Sadanand Gowda, who had planned to take oath along with a few ministers, had to take oath alone on Thursday, that too in the absence of several legislators who owe allegiance to former minister Jagadish Shettar.

According to sources, both camps one led by former CM B S Yeddyurappa and the other by national BJP general secretary Ananthkumar have engaged in a hard bargaining over cabinet berths. While the Kumar camp is demanding for equal share in the Cabinet besides seeking plum portfolios like home, revenue and RDPR, the Yeddyurappa camp, which has more MLAs, is said to have offered them 14 cabinet berths while seeking to retain 20 berths for it.

Gowda who visited both Shettar and state BJP president K S Eshwrappa on Thursday is said to have made this offer while inviting them for the swearing in ceremony in the evening.

The Shettar camp, on its part, rejected the offer while sticking to their demand for equal share. When Gowda did not commit on it, they decided to boycott the swearing in ceremony.

Full Story at,

http://expressbuzz.com/states/karnataka/karnataka-now-its-fight-for-cabinet-berths/301237.html

KARNATAKA POLITICS: Breakfast diplomacy: Sadananda reaches out to Shettar!!

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Radhika Iyer, Updated: August 04, 2011 12:01 IST.

Bangalore:  "My big smile will last for 22 months," said the man who will formally take over as Chief Minister of Karnataka today. Sadananda Gowda, 54, will have to work hard to keep that famous grin in place. (Read: Who is Sadananda Gowda?) 

Close to 55 of the BJP's 121 MLAs in Karnataka are considering boycotting Mr Gowda's swearing-in, scheduled for 4 pm.  These MLAs are loyal to BJP General Secretary Ananth Kumar, who tried to have his candidate, Jagadish Shettar, elected as the new Chief Minister.  Mr Shettar lost the vote conducted yesterday by secret ballot by 12 votes. 

"We have not been invited to the swearing-in," said Mr Shettar, who is the Rural Development Minister. "After we get the invite, we will think about it," he said.  A minister close to Mr Shettar said that he has refused an offer to serve as the Deputy Chief Minister.  The Shettar camp had breakfast this morning at his home.  Bang next door lives Mr Gowda, who decided to drop in for breakfast at his rival's home -  a gesture of goodwill that could go a long way in bridging the gap.

The 22 months that Mr Gowda referred to is how long the BJP has before Karnataka votes again.  The party is trying to balance caste equations in the state.  Mr Gowda is a Vokkaliga, the second-largest community in Karnataka.  Mr Shettar on the other hand belongs to the Lingayat community which makes up a powerful votebank.  

Having the top two communities represented at the highest levels of government would possibly come as close as the BJP can get to keeping everyone happy. Now if only Mr Shettar would cooperate.  "I have seen more turbulence when I was BJP president (in the state)," said Mr Gowda today.  

 

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KARNATAKA: Corruption will not be tolerated at any level: Lokayukta!

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PTI / The Hindu / BANGALORE, August 3, 2011.

Shivaraj V. Patil (Left), being sworn in Karnataka Lokayukta by Governor Hansraj Bharadwaj, as caretaker Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa looks on. Photo: K. Gopinathan - The HIndu.

Karnataka Lokayukta Shivaraj Patil said the anti-corruption body needed more powers. He assured that the good work of his predecessor would be carried forward.

Former Supreme Court Judge, Shivaraj V. Patil today took over as Karnataka Lokayukta and said corruption would not be tolerated at any level in the state.

Addressing his maiden press meet after being sworn-in by Governor H.R. Bhardwaj, he said, “let the message go that corruption will not be tolerated at any level in the state. Stringent action will be taken against those who indulge in it (corruption).”

Asserting that pressure of any kind shall not work, Mr. Patil, who succeeds Santosh Hegde whose term ended yesterday, warned that if some people indulged in exerting pressure, “they will regret”.

Earlier, Mr. Patil had probed the procedures followed in allocation of telecom spectrum in 2001-09 following the 2G spectrum scandal.

Mr. Patil said the oath he had undertaken would be his “guiding spirit” and he would stand by it.

Though the oath is “tough and challenging as expectations are high, I will make endeavours to see that culprits are brought to book at the earliest. The good work done by the previous Lokayukta will be carried forward and we will add to it,” Mr. Patil said.

Responding to a query on the report on illegal mining submitted by Mr. Hegde (which indicted outgoing Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa), Mr. Patil said, “the report submitted by Lokayukta is long and stupendous. I have not yet read the report, unless I study the report in detail, I cannot comment on it”.

To another question on Governor according sanction to Lokayukta police to initiate criminal proceedings against Mr. Yeddyurappa over the report on illegal mining, Mr. Patil said, “the communique sent by the Governor, has not yet been placed before me, once it is placed. I will examine it and take appropriate action as per the Lokayukta Act”.

Full Story at,

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article2319298.ece

MOB JUSTICE: 71 nabbed for lynching 10 men!

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August 3, 2011 / IANS, Bengaluru / DC.

Police arrested 71 people on Wednesday for their alleged involvement in lynching 10 people just a day ago, police said.

"We have arrested 71 people from Yerrakote and Baralahalli villages for their alleged involvement in the attacks and sent them to 14-day judicial remand for investigation," Karnataka inspector general of police (IGP) Malini Krishnamurthy said.

According to the local police, six people were burnt alive when their vehicle was torched at Yerrakote and three people bludgeoned to death at Baralahalli village in Chickballapur district when unruly mobs attacked them with lethal weapons.

The accused (all men) were nabbed from the twin villages after gathering information on them from eyewitnesses and local authorities. Two cases of rioting, murder and arson have been registered against them under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), Krishnamurthy said.

"The enraged mobs lynched the victims as they suspected them to be thieves and cheats from Ananthapur district of Andhra Pradesh after they tried to snatch gold ornaments from a woman at Barlahalli village," Krishnamurthy said.

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KARNATAKA POLITICS: Sadananda Gowda will be new Karnataka CM!

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PTI / The Hindu / BANGALORE, August 3, 2011.

Sadananda Gowda after attending a meeting at the BJP office in Bangalore. File photo.

Lok Sabha member D. V. Sadananda Gowda will be the new Chief Minister of Karnataka,with his election on Wednesday as leader of the BJP legislature party in secret ballot, in a victory to the B. S. Yeddyurappa camp.

The exact number of votes polled by the rival candidates was not immediately available.

58-year-old Gowda beat Jagadish Shettar who was propped up by the rival camp led by BJP National General Secretary H. N. Ananth Kumar in a straight contest after the party central leaders failed to evolve a consensus on the successor issue.

The election brought out the sharp division in BJP’s State unit with Mr. Yeddyurappa aggressively pushing for Mr. Gowda’s candidature after being asked to step down as Chief Minister following his indictment in the Lokayukta report on illegal mining.

An affable and non-controversial figure, Mr. Gowda, a former State unit chief, is a Lok Sabha member from Udupi-Chikmagalur.

He has also served as Deputy Opposition leader in the Assembly.

After Mr. Yeddyurappa’s exit, party’s Central observers Arun Jaitley and Rajnath Singh had tried to build a consensus on his successor but the rival factions stuck to their guns forcing a showdown.

Yeddyurappa factor

The election of Mr. Gowda, who is not a member of either House of the Legislature, has clearly demonstrated the hold Mr. Yeddyurappa has over legislators and his command over the party in the State.

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KARNATAKA POLITICS: Sadanand Gowda voted the new Karnataka Chief Minister!

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In a Secret Voting of Karantaka BJP Legislature Party, B.S. Yediyurappa backed D.V. Sadananda Gowda has been elected against Jagadish Shettar.

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KARNATAKA POLITICS: Choice narrows down to Shettar, Sadananda Gowda!

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S. Rajendran, The Hindu / BANGALORE, August 3, 2011.

The choice for the Karnataka Chief Minister post has narrowed down to the outgoing Minister for Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Jagadish Shettar (left) and Udupi-Chikmagalur MP D.V. Sadananda Gowda. File photos - The Hindu.

But there is no unanimity still between rival factions of BJP

The selection of the next Chief Minister of Karnataka, 20th to head the government since 1947, has reached a feverish pitch. There is still no unanimity between the two rival factions of the Bharatiya Janata Party, indicative of the deep divide in the legislature wing.

The choice has narrowed down to the outgoing Minister for Rural Development and Panchayat Raj, Jagadish Shettar, and MP representing Udupi-Chikmagalur D.V. Sadananda Gowda. The party's central leadership, which has steered clear of naming a successor to B.S. Yeddyurappa, has decided to leave it to the legislature party to select the leader.

The party's central observers, Rajnath Singh and Arun Jaitley, who were initially tasked with obtaining Mr. Yeddyurappa's resignation and thereafter identifying his successor, arrived here on Tuesday to restart the selection process, which they left midway on Sunday.

They merely said the political process of selecting the next Chief Minister was on, but declined to give a specific reply to the question whether the leader of the legislature party would be finalised through consensus or through ballot.

Never has the State witnessed such a prolonged power struggle, more so within a ruling party. The party took time to obtain the resignation of Mr. Yeddyurappa and thereafter to identify his successor. Both the rival groups are likely to chalk out a political strategy in the event that their nominees fail to be selected. Mr. Yeddyurappa has conveyed to the central leadership that Mr. Shettar's candidature is not acceptable to him. He raised a similar objection to the former Union Minister and MP from Bangalore South, Ananth Kumar, two days ago.

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http://www.thehindu.com/news/states/karnataka/article2317210.ece

KARNATAKA MINING SCAM: Skeletons from Bellary!

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August 2, 2011 / By Paranjoy Guha Thakurta / DC.

Three years and two months after he was sworn in as the first Bharatiya Janata Party chief minister of a state in southern India, Bookanakere Siddalingappa Yeddyurappa was asked by his party bosses to put in his papers.

He did not do so gracefully. He left kicking and screaming. Next in line to lose his job is Gali Janardhan Reddy, Karnataka’s minister for infrastructure development, tourism and youth affairs.

The two have been indicted in the strongest possible language in the final report of the state’s Lokayukta (or “people’s ombudsman”), Justice N. Santosh Hegde, on illegal mining and exports of iron ore from the Bellary region of the state.

They are at the epicentre of what is arguably the most brazen scandal in independent India; in certain respects the Bellary scam is more brazen than the second-generation telecommunications spectrum scandal. According to the Comptroller and Auditor General of India, the 2G scam resulted in a “notional” or a “potential” loss to the exchequer that could be as much as Rs 1,76,645 crore.

Even if this figure is disputed, the amount represents funds that could have been obtained, money which could have accrued to the government, but did not. In the case of the iron ore export scandal, the amount involved is much lower. Justice Hegde’s report has quantified the loss on account of illegal exports of iron ore from Karnataka, between April 2006 and December 2010, as Rs 12,228 crore.

But there’s a notable difference between what is popularly called the 2G scam and the scandal relating to iron ore mining in Bellary. In the case of the latter, a non-renewable resource belonging to the people of the country has gone for ever.

Much of the ore has been exported to China where it has been converted into finished steel products, rods and bars that are part of buildings and stadia in Beijing, Shanghai and elsewhere.

On July 16, 2010, Mr Yeddyurappa had acknowledged in the state Assembly that over 30 million tonnes of iron ore had been illegally exported from Karnataka over a seven-year period between April 2003 and March 2010.

The total worth of this huge quantity of iron ore is at least $1.5 billion or Rs 7,500 crore (assuming very conservatively that each tonne of iron ore is worth $50 in the international market). These are clearly under-estimates.

The actual losses are much higher, especially if one considers the way in which the ecology of the region has been ravaged and the livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of families ruined. During the making of a documentary film, Blood and Iron (a film by the writer of this column), one noticed the scale of the devastation caused by iron ore mining and the sharp contrast in the way in which the majority live and the lifestyles of a privileged few.

Bellary, which has a population of around two million, boasts a per capita income in excess of Rs 47,000, well above the average per capita income of Karnataka (around Rs 41,000). However, the literacy rate of the town at 57 per cent stands well below the average literacy rate of Karnataka (around 67 per cent).

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http://www.deccanchronicle.com/editorial/op-ed/skeletons-bellary-633

KARNATAKA MINING SCAM: Indictment by Lokayukta baseless - NMDC!

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Staff Reporter, The Hindu / HYDERABAD, August 2, 2011.

‘Lokayukta did not seek any information or clarification from NMDC before scripting the report'

The public sector National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC) has termed the indictment in the Karnataka Lokayukta's report on the corporation's alleged involvement in the mining mafia “totally incorrect and baseless.”

“Allegations of under invoicing in the report are surprising and agonising for us as they put our reputation as a ‘Navaratna' company at stake,” chairman and managing director Rana Som stated here on Monday. It was a “unilateral report” as the Lokayukta did not seek any information or clarification from NMDC before scripting it.

Addressing journalists in the wake of Lokayukta Santosh Hegde's report indicting the NMDC for “under invoicing exports to the tune of Rs. 2,222 crore during the 2006-07 to 2010 period and that it could have led to parking money abroad,” Mr. Som said the corporation had not exported even an ounce of iron ore from Donimalai (Bellary district) mines since November 2008.

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http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article2314253.ece