Karnataka has no room for BJP-JD (S) style of political opportunism: Moily

Bangalore, May 8 : Senior Congress party leader and former Karnataka Chief Minister M. Veerappa Moily said on Wednesday that the political opportunism practiced by the previous BJP-JD (S) State Government had provided the people the clarity as to which party to vote into power during the three-phased Assembly elections to be held this month.

Addressing a press conference here, Moily said the Congress was not interested in becoming a member of the "Hung Assembly Club", and was quite sure it (the party) had the vision, perspective and administrative acumen to win the hearts and minds of the people of Karnataka.

Rebutting the oft-repeated BJP charge of terrorism having taken firm root under the UPA regime, Moily said the former had "no moral right to raise the issue of terrorism, when it was a well known fact that the previous NDA regime had released dreaded terrorists and escorted them to safety to Kandahar (in December 1999)".

He further went on to say that 40 terrorist attacks had taken place during the NDA's tenure, which was unprecedented, and added that if the BJP-led NDA "could not protect Parliament from being attacked by terrorists (December 13, 2001), the attack on the Raghunath Mandir (March 2002), the attack on the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly (October 2001) and the attack on the Akshardam Temple (September 2002)", it had no business to question the counter-terrorism credentials of other parties.

Emphasising that there was no question of the Congress going soft on terrorism, having lost two of its Prime Ministers (Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi) to the menace, Moily attributed the culture of violence and rioting to the BJP.

"The peace-loving people of south India have realised the destructive value of the BJP and has rejected them outright. Now, people all over India also have realised the same and will reject the BJP," the former Karnataka Chief Minister said.

Taking pot shots at BJP chief ministerial candidate B.S. Yediyurappa, Moily said he had no political maturity nor stature to lead Karnataka. He also said that he had no tolerance nor humility.

He also said that the current chaos in Bangalore is the result of poor urban planning, a cracking infrastructure and ineffectual governance during the previous 20 months. The previous regime had also not taken advantage of the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission scheme.

Describing Bangalore as a cosmopolitan and international destination, Moily said that the previous BJP-JD (S) Government had violated all democratic norms and encouraged scandals, and therefore, was not fit to be considered as an institution of governance. By Mrityunjay Singh

ANI