Thaindian News

New Delhi, Jan 11 (IANS) A day after hurling invectives at Karnataka Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa, former prime minister H.D. Deve Gowda Monday fired another shot at him, accusing him of colluding with Nandi Infrastructure Corridor Enterprise Limited (NICE) to deprive farmers of their agricultural lands.
Gowda made the allegation during an interaction with reporters in the Supreme Court premises after attending a hearing on a lawsuit of NICE for launch of the contempt of court proceedings against seven state government officials.

Nice alleged the officials derailed the project and foiled its expeditious implementation despite an April 2006 order of the apex court to execute it in the way the project was originally conceived in 1997.

The former prime minister accused Yeddyurappa and his associates of colluding with NICE officials for “cheating and grabbing” over 4,800 acres of land for the Bangalore-Mysore Expressway and hurting farmers’ interests.

Admitting that he used unparliamentary words “bloody b…” against the chief minister Sunday, Gowda, however, asserted that he had withdrawn the same soon after and regretted it.

Gowda claimed in his 56 years of parliamentary life, none of his words or statements were ever expunged for being unparliamentary or unsavoury, and attributed his outburst to the “agony” of the farmers. They, he said, were being pushed into “misery” by the state government’s collusion with NICE.

“The company personnel, the advocate general of the state and the chief minister have colluded, cheated and grabbed 4,884 acres of land,” he said.

Gowda also alleged that a senior lawyer has “misled” the Supreme Court to get favourable orders despite a 2004 order passed against the company.

He said NICE wants to “build a mahal (palace) by burying the farmers.”