Thaindian News

Bangalore, July 14 (IANS) As Governor H.R. Bhardwaj camped in New Delhi to brief the central government on the situation in Karnataka over protests against illegal mining, assembly proceedings were disrupted for the third day Wednesday with the opposition insisting on a CBI probe into the scandal.
The opposition Congress and Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) spent the second straight night in the assembly Tuesday as part of the sit-in for a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe, but Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa stuck to his stand of a probe by state Lok Ayukta (ombudsman) and not by the central agency.

“It will only delay the probe. Agree to the Lok Ayukta probe and allow the assembly to transact its business,” Yeddyurappa pleaded in vain with the opposition, who have declared that they will continue the sit-in in the house till the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government agrees to ask the central government to order a CBI probe.

Speaker K.G. Bopaiah, whose efforts to resolve the impasse has failed, said he was apologising to the people of Karnataka as “I am not able to conduct the business”.

Yeddyurappa told the house that the Lok Ayukta had full powers to conduct the probe and he is probing the illegal mining since 2002. The chief minister wondered whether the opposition wants a CBI probe “to bury the issue as mostly it’s the Congress and JD-S leaders who are involved”.

He also took a dig at the opposition asking why “previous chief ministers S.M. Krishna (of Congress) and H.D. Deve Gowda did not order a CBI investigation”.

The issue disrupted proceedings in the council too for the second straight day and chairman D.H. Shankara Murthy adjourned the house for the day.

Bhardwaj, who briefed President Pratibha Patil on the Karnataka situation Tuesday in New Delhi, is expected to meet Home Minister P. Chidambaram and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh before returning to Bangalore.

The Reddy brothers, Tourism Minister G. Janardhana Reddy, his elder brother and Revenue Minister G. Karunakara Reddy, and younger brother and assembly member G. Somashekara Reddy, are accused of large-scale illegal mining in Bellary as well as neighbouring Andhra Pradesh.

The brothers own the Obulapuram Mining Company.

Between 2003 and now, over 30 million tonnes of iron ore has been illegally mined and exported from Karnataka causing a huge revenue loss. Congress and JD-S claim that the illegal mining scam is worth around Rs.60,000 crore (Rs.600 billion).