Bengaluru, Sep 7 (IANS) Senior BJP leader and Leader of the Opposition in the Karnataka Legislative Council, Chalavadi Narayanaswamy, on Monday accused the Congress government of discriminating against Opposition-ruled constituencies in the declaration of drought-hit areas across the state.

Speaking to the media after extending his support to JD(S) MLA Sharanagouda Kandakur, who was staging a protest near Vidhana Soudha against the exclusion of Gurmitkal and Yadgir taluks from the drought-hit list, Narayanaswamy alleged that only 17 constituencies represented by BJP and JD(S) legislators had been included among the declared drought-affected areas, while the remaining constituencies belonged to ruling party MLAs.

He alleged that the government had deliberately targeted Opposition legislators. Referring to Gurmitkal, he said the constituency was among the most backward regions and was facing severe drought.

“AICC President Mallikarjun Kharge had represented Gurmitkal as an MLA eight times. The constituency is severely drought-hit. But the government has not declared it drought-affected because Sharanagouda Kandakur is the sitting MLA,” he alleged.

“If the government has personal enmity with the MLAs, put them in jail. Why punish innocent people?” he asked.

Narayanaswamy questioned the government’s decision to curtail the Assembly session before its scheduled conclusion. He said the Opposition had requested an opportunity to discuss the severe drought situation caused by deficient rainfall during the monsoon session. However, the government did not heed their demand and, instead, curtailed the session three days ahead of schedule.

“Now, a special session has been convened to discuss the drought. How is this justified?” he questioned.

He accused the Congress government of failing to address the drought situation and alleged that the session was curtailed to protect a “corrupt minister” from scrutiny.

Narayanaswamy said the BJP had formed six teams to assess the drought situation across the state and had submitted a report to the government. “We had reported that more than 200 constituencies were facing drought. But the government did not take our report seriously,” he said.

He also alleged that newly appointed ministers sent to districts to assess the drought situation were more interested in receiving felicitations than conducting inspections.

He claimed that the government had initially declared only 101 taluks as drought-hit “for namesake” and expanded the declaration after the BJP began its padayatra.

Narayanaswamy also questioned Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar’s use of a helicopter to assess the situation. “Air surveys are understandable when there are floods. But when there is no rain, and the state is facing drought, why is the Chief Minister travelling by helicopter?” he asked.

He said the government should interact directly with people to understand their problems instead of conducting what he termed a symbolic exercise.

On the controversy surrounding former minister B. Nagendra, Narayanaswamy questioned claims that he could be inducted into the Cabinet again after receiving a clean chit. “Health Minister says Nagendra will be made a minister again after he gets a clean chit. In which factory are these clean chits manufactured?” he asked.

He also accused the government of rolling back measures related to Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe reservation and alleged that the Congress government had committed “corruption, cheating and fraud” on several fronts.

Narayanaswamy criticised the implementation of the Gruha Lakshmi guarantee scheme, alleging that beneficiaries had not received the promised Rs 2,000 regularly.

He accused the government of treating women like “beggars” and said women were not “slaves of the Congress”. He also alleged irregularities in the provision of shoes to schoolchildren and made allegations against the Karnataka Residential Educational Institutions Society (KREIS).

Narayanaswamy further claimed that several Congress MLAs were unhappy with the functioning of the government and alleged that they were being sidelined. “Congress MLAs have also become like Opposition MLAs. Discontent is growing. They are angry and frustrated. If only a few people continue to benefit, the others will not remain silent,” he said.P

–IANS

mka/skp