Kumaraswamy to seek Judicial probe on opposition charges

Bangalore, June 15 (UNI) Karnataka Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy today offered to face a judicial probe into the allegations against him that he owns land in the area coming under the controversial Bangalore Mysore Infrastructure Corridor (BMIC), even as the Congress accused him of adopting 'blackmailing tactics' to pressurise the ruling coalition partner BJP to toe his line on the issue.

Amidst rapid developments that resulted in a rift between the coalition partners, JD (S) and the BJP, a 9.2 km stretch coming under the first phase of the Rs 2,000 crore project would be thrown open formally at a function on the outskirts of the city tomorrow by the project promoters, Nandi Infrastructure Corridor Enterprises (NICE).

However, the Chief Minister, who was firm on his decision to take over the project from NICE by bringing in a legislation, declined to attend the function, saying that it was ''anti-farmers.'' Speaking to newspersons after attending a function here, Mr Kumaraswamy said he would write to Karnataka High Court Chief Justice Cyriac Joseph to appoint a sitting judge to probe the allegations levelled against him by the Congress to put at rest the confusion.

''I will not run away from the battlefield like a coward,'' he said, asserting that the project in its present form was detrimental to the interests of the state in general and farmers in particular.

He denied that he had resorted to 'blackmailing tactics' with the BJP to make it back his decision on the BMIC issue as alleged by Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge and said if it were to be true, then he would not have sought a judicial probe.

He was confident that BJP leaders would agree with him once they realised that injustice was being meted to the farming community.

Mr Kumaraswamy said he would ensure that more funds were ploughed into the state to maintain the investor-friendly atmosphere.

BJP Spokesman and General Secretary Suresh Kumar, talking to newspersons separately, said the JD(S) had neither pressurised it to accept its line on the issue nor threatened to destabilise the four-month-old coalition set up. The government would continue and complete its 40-month term. The legislature wing of the party would meet on June 19 and discuss the issue threadbare before taking a final decision, he added.

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