By IANS,
New Delhi : With the anti-corruption movement taking centrestage across India, BJP president Nitin Gadkari Saturday faced some tough questioning from industry honchos on the party’s failure to take action against Karnataka Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa who faces allegations of favouring kin with land allotments.
Defending Yeddyurappa’s continuation, Gadkari, addressing a Confederation of Indian Industry annual conference here, said the problem with the chief minister was one of “perception versus reality”.
He added that the chief minister’s discretionary powers were mandated under the law passed by the state assembly and that no constitutional authority had reported that he had done anything wrong.
“With regard to Yeddyurappa, it is all a matter of perception versus reality. There is this problem of perception against the chief minister due to a campaign in the media against him. But the denotification of land and discretionary allotments done by Yeddyurappa is permitted by the law that was passed by the Karnataka assembly,” he said at the event.
Industrialist and member of Parliament Rahul Bajaj, raising the issue at the event, asked the BJP president what he had to say to the perception that Yeddyurappa was corrupt even as his party supported social activist Anna Hazare’s anti-corruption campaign.
“In the case of 2G spectrum allotment or Commonwealth Games or any other corruption issue that my party has raised, these were all brought out in reports by either the Supreme Court or the Comptroller and Auditor General or such constitutional authority. Is there any such indictment of Yeddyurappa?” Gadkari said.
He also noted that the same denotification and discretionary powers that Yeddyurappa invoked were used several times over by his predecessors Janata Dal-Secular leader H.D. Kumaraswamy, Congress leader Dharam Singh and even External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna when he was heading the state government.
“Accusing Yeddyurappa on the basis of political perception and campaign is not correct. If there is any report from CAG or CVC or courts, then we will see what action needs to be taken. Otherwise performance of the BJP government in Karnataka is very good. Perception is the problem,” he said.
On his decision to let Yeddyurappa continue, Gadkari said: “You may agree or not…it may be correct or not… It is my decision. I take full responsibility for this decision.”
Yeddyurappa has faced political heat in the last six months over opposition allegations that he had allotted prime land to his family members at throw-away prices and had taken donations for a family-run trust as a quid pro quo for business favours.
Earlier, in his address at the event, Gadkari said graft was not just a political problem in the country but was also a social issue with corruption pervading all walks of life.
He assured the business leaders gathered at the event that his party would support the government on all legislative business in parliament that aimed at economic growth, development and good governance, including the Goods and Service Tax Act, Lokpal (ombudsman) Bill and electoral reforms.
He also said that politics was “full of compromises and limitations” and hence he would not claim that he and his party were “cent per cent perfect”. “But we are the best that is available (as a political party). We will try to get better and better everyday,” he said.