Bangalore: A new report on illegal mining in Karnataka pushes the BJP into emergency-care mode – it names the Chief Minister, BS Yeddyurappa, his family and four senior ministers in his government. The report has been prepared by the state’s Lokayukta or ombudsman, Santosh Hedge, who claims that it has been leaked after his phones were tapped.
Mr Hedge is to present his 8,000 page report tomorrow on the illegal export of iron-ore from Karnataka’s mines to the BJP government. However, most of the document’s politically explosive contents have been made public. The Lokayukta says that he asked a private firm to check on whether his phones were tapped, and then changed one of his numbers.
Mr Hedge did not elaborate on what he says against Mr Yeddyurappa in his report, but confirmed that he does refer to a trust , run by the chief minister’s family, receiving 10 crores from a mining company.
The BJP ministers whose role is questioned reportedly include the powerful Reddy brothers, who are mining barons from Bellary and have reportedly been accused of breaking the law to benefit their companies. “We are clean. We have no involvement whatsoever to this so called scam. Let the report be submitted first,” said G Karunakara Reddy, the Revenue Minister, to NDTV this morning.
The damning basics of the Hegde report include his estimate that the state has lost 1800 crores in 14 months through illegal mining. For the BJP, the revelations come just as it was getting ready to attack the union government over corruption in the monsoon session of parliament, which begins on August 1.
Mr Yeddyurappa is currently holidaying in Mauritius. Political opponents who have repeatedly accused him of corruption and nepotism have asked that he resign immediately. They include Opposition leader HD Kumaraswamy, who himself was accused of accepting kickbacks for mining contracts when he was Chief Minister before Mr Yeddyurappa.
Mr Kumaraswamy, who heads the Janata Dal (S), has also been mentioned in the Lokayukta’s new report. He says he is not worried about the new report’s reference to him, that he is faulted for a minor technicality, and that he will cooperate with any investigation.
Mr Hegde has repeatedly said that politicians across party lines have shown signs of malpractice in their handling of the state’s rich mines. Two days ago, he told NDTV that “There is no political will to stop illegal mining, everybody’s finger is in the till.” This the second report filed by him; the first was presented in December 2008 and faulted Mr Yeddyurappa among others. The Chief Minister had rejected that report.
Mr Yeddyurappa has been accused also of repeatedly gifting valuable public land to companies owned by his children and their spouses. He cancelled some of these deals after they were reported in the media.
Recently, senior party leader LK Advani said he was worried about the BJP’s state of affairs in Karnataka. BJP president Nitin Gadkari, however, was far more relaxed in his stand -he said that while Mr Yeddyurappa’s actions may suggest a lack of ethics, they were not illegal.