Church attacks: Congress wants CBI probe

Leader of Opposition in the Legislative Assembly Siddaramaiah has demanded CBI inquiry into all incidents of attacks on minorities and places of worship and asked Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa to stop blaming others for the mistakes of his Government.

Mr. Siddaramaiah told presspersons here on Sunday that it had come to light that members of the Sangh Parivar were involved in the attacks on churches.

"The BJP Government led by Mr. Yeddyurappa has failed to take action against those involved in these incidents that created unrest in society and now the Chief Minister is blaming others for the mistakes committed by his Government, which has resulted in law and order problem in the State," he said.

Mr. Siddaramaiah said that in order to cover up their mistakes, the Chief Minister and his Cabinet colleagues were now trying to mislead the public by saying that efforts were being made to topple their Government.

"If the Chief Minister has any proof to support his statements, let him handover the issue to the CBI, the truth will be out," he said.

He said that considering all these alarming developments in the State in the last few months, the Governor had expressed concern over the law and order situation in the State.

"As a custodian of the Constitution, he has every right to make his observations. What politics is involved in it?," he asked.

Referring to the statement of BJP leader Venkaiah Naidu, Mr. Siddharamaiah said it was better if Mr. Naidu read the Constitution once again. He said it was condemnable that the Chief Minister and his Cabinet colleagues were raising their finger of suspicion against the Governor to cover up their failure in governance.

The Leader of Opposition said with rampant corruption and frequent transfers, the police officials and their personnel had lost moral strength as they were made to work under the fear of members of the Sangh Parivar. The State intelligence and the police department was almost dead, he said.

Questioning the rationale behind the Chief Minister's China visit, Mr. Siddaramaiah said as a head of the Government, the Chief Minister had set a wrong precedent by going on a foreign tour at a time when the State was reeling under drought.

Even the Government had failed to tackle the drought and Rs. 280 crore released by the Centre remained unutilised, he said.

Mr. Siddaramaiah said the State Government had not released funds for drought relief from its exchequer.

He said the Congress would launch an agitation soon after the Assembly session against the "misrule" of the BJP. "We will go to the people to tell them about the misrule as those in the Government have become insensitive to criticism," he said.

Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Council V.S. Ugrappa termed the Chief Minister and the Home Minister as "ineffective" and said that the party would go to the "people's court" to present before it the facts.