Leader of Opposition in the Karnataka Assembly R Ashoka.
Credit: DH Photo
Bengaluru: Demanding the extension of the forthcoming 15-day legislature session, scheduled to start Monday next, by a week, Leader of Opposition in the Assembly R Ashoka on Wednesday said, “Two weeks are not enough to discuss the many issues which have occurred or come to light in rapid succession over the last couple of months. The Opposition will, therefore, make a strong case for extending the session by at least one week.”
The senior BJP leader said that the Opposition would move a motion of adjournment demanding discussions into allegations of irregularities in the allotment of sites at the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA), and misappropriation of funds at the Maharshi Valmiki ST Development Corporation.
Ashoka, interacting with representatives of the press after a meeting of BJP leaders convened to discuss the strategy to be adopted by the party on the floor, said, “We will raise the decision of MUDA to allot 14 sites to CM Siddaramaiah’s wife in a prime locality in Mysuru instead of the 3.16-acre plot on the city’s outskirts that the development agency acquired in the 1990s. This is one of the biggest scams that the state has recorded. The Opposition will also raise the subject of the transfer of crores of funds from the Maharshi Valmiki ST Development Corporation, using which Congress funded elections in neighbouring states.”
The Opposition is also looking to target the government over its supposed failure to check the spread of the Zika virus, and the rising dengue caseload across the state.
The rise in the number of farmer suicides, increase in the number of attacks on Hindus, reduction in grants to various departments and payment of milk subsidy arrears, to the tune of Rs 700 crore, will be some of the other issues the Opposition will want to debate on the floor of the Assembly.
BJP MLC and former minister C T Ravi told DH that the party members would question the government over allegations of corruption in the labour department in the legislative Council as well.
“We are currently compiling information about an alleged Rs 10-crore scam in the labour department, which reportedly conducted a free health check-up camp for labourers in Chitradurga, paying Rs 3,000 for each worker to an agency. But no one had seen a health camp being conducted in the district. We will raise this issue in the Council,” the former minister said.
Meanwhile, BJP general secretary V Sunilkumar told DH that the party leaders will confer with their counterparts in the JD(S) on Friday, to discuss the strategy that the allies should adopt, to sharpen their attack on the Congress government.
“As things stand now, the BJP will launch a three-pronged attack to show that the Congress government is anti-Dalit, scam-riddled, and has undertaken zero development,” he said.