Kumaraswamy threatens to stage dharna tomorrow

Bangalore, Jan 27 (PTI) JDS leader and former chiefminister H D Kumaraswamy today alleged that the UrbanDevelopment department had not responded to his query underthe RTI act on payment to a housing society and threatenedthat he would go on a dharna tomorrow.

Kumaraswamy, who has drawn the ire of the ruling BJPfor releasing documents on alleged land scams involving ChiefMinister B S Yeddyurappa and his family members, said he wastrying to get replies to a query from the Department for thepast one month.

"I have been asking for information regarding paymentof Rs 400 crore to the DLF Housing Society. The UrbanDevelopment Principal Secretary is also not responding to myphone calls for the document since a month... I will wait tillthis afternoon. If I do not get it, I will stage dharnatomorrow in front of his office," he told a press meet here.

Kumaraswamy, who had led the JDS-BJP coalitiongovernment, took a dig a Yeddyurappa for his announcement toearmark Rs five crore in the budget to reward those providinginformation on "benami" lands owned by politicians aroundBangalore city. "Yeddyurappa family will be the first victims,because it is they who own benami lands", he said.

"The BJP leaders are shameless supporting the misdeedsof Yeddyurappa government," Kumaraswamy said.

He appealed to Lokayukta Santosh Hegde to accord toppriority to the petition against him and and his brotherH D Balakrishne Gowda and complete the investigations so thatthe people of the state get to know the truth.

Kumaraswamy dismissed as "baseless" allegations madeby an advocate in his complaint that about Rs 167 crore fundswere deposited in the bank accounts of Kumaraswamy''s relativesafter he became chief minister in 2006.

Former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda slammed BJP forthe Ekta yatra in Jammu and Kashmir and said "it is only todivide the nation and not to unite".

"Are Advani, Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley the onlyones who unite the nation?, he asked.

JDS sources said the party''s minority wing isorganising a protest in the city against Yeddyurappa onJanuary 29, on the eve of a Congress rally demanding the ChiefMinister''s resignation.