BENGALURU: Ever since BS Yediyurappa took oath as Chief Minister, flagship programmes undertaken by previous governments have been under the scanner. In the last 45 days, the BJP government has either ordered probes into 10 projects and schemes where they found irregularities. Apart from this, around five initiatives by previous governments have been stalled till further notice.
Even before he took oath on July 26, Yediyurappa (who was CM designate at the time) had written a letter to Chief Secretary T M Vijay Bhaskar, directing him to withhold all new projects and transfers that were sanctioned by the Congress-JDS coalition government. The BSY government even ordered stalling of many projects.
BSY also ordered probes into Bengaluru-related projects, such as Indira canteens, white-topping of roads, Mukyamantri Nagarottana grants and also into the alleged irregularities in the city’s waste management. The CM has directed the Chief Secretary to submit a report related to these issues in the next two to three months. “This means that these issues will come up during the winter session, which is expected to be held in October or November. This is an attempt by the BSY government to weaken the Opposition’s voice in Assembly,’’ said BJP sources.
It can be noted that in August, the state government handed over two major cases to the CBI - the IMA scam and phone-tapping. Reacting to the probes, former CM Siddaramaiah tweeted that from day one, BSY has been practising vendetta politics, whereas he should be giving priority to flood-related issues. “It is good to know that the schemes implemented by our govt will be investigated by @BSYBJP. I find it hilarious to see their desperation to find flaws in opposition where they themselves are corrupt. @BJP4 India is desperately finding innovative ways to end our pro-people schemes. I will not stop them from investigating, but if they end the schemes in the name of investigation, I will lead a protest against such a move,’’ he posted.
Reacting to this, Deputy CM Dr C N Ashwath Narayan said that any responsible government would not allow the misuse public funds. “We are not stopping any of the schemes announced by previous government. We are just keen on stopping the leakage. After a probe, we will find out the leakage points to be stopped. If there are irregularities in the schemes and projects, shouldnt we do something?’’ he questioned.