Land deal: Cong-JDS coalition received kickbacks, alleges Yeddyurappa
Bengaluru, Jun 9: The BJP in Karnataka Sunday alleged that the Congress-JDS coalition has received "kickbacks" for selling 3,667 acres of land, having rich deposits of iron ore, to JSW steel company in Ballari district.
The comments by Karnataka BJP Chief B S Yeddyurappa have come a day after chairman and managing director of the steel giant, Sajjan Jindal said that the company never does anything "illegal" or "disadvantage" the people of the state.
"We will be holding a three-day protest in Bengaluru against government's decision to sell 3,667 acres of land to Jindal at Rs 1.22 lakh per acre," Yeddyurappa told reporters in Yadgir.
"If the decision is not taken back and if the need arises, we have decided to hold a state-wide protest also," added the veteran Bharatiya Janata Party leader.
Asked whether any kickback was received by the coalition government, he said, "If not, why will they do it? After the Lok Sabha elections the first thing they did in the cabinet meeting was giving away over 3,600 acres of land... H K Patil (Congress leader) has also opposed it."
To another query on who received kickbacks, Yeddyurappa said, "Who else? those running the government."
The state cabinet had recently decided to convert the lease of 3,667 acres land to JSW Steel in Ballari district into sale, in accordance with the initial agreement.
Accusing the government of selling the land to the company at a throwaway price, Yeddyurappa had already announced that the BJP would stage a three-day Satyagraha in the city opposing the decision from June 13.
Embarrassing the coalition, senior Congress leader H K Patil has been opposing the move by writing a series of letters to the state government.
He has maintained that the company has been accused of indulging in "illegal mining" and that it owed dues to the government and the state-run Mysore Minerals Ltd.
Meanwhile, Congress sources said Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy is expected to intervene in the matter soon.
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Rupee falls 9 paise to all-time low of 90.58 against US dollar in early trade
Mumbai (PTI): Rupee depreciated 9 paise to an all-time low of 90.58 against US dollar in early trade on Monday, weighed down by uncertainty over an India-US trade deal and persistent foreign fund outflows.
Forex traders said rupee is trading with a negative bias as investors are in wait and watch mode and awaiting cues from the India-US trade deal front.
At the interbank foreign exchange market, the rupee opened at 90.53 against the US dollar, then fell further to an all-time intraday low of 90.58 against the greenback, registering a fall of 9 paise over its previous close.
On Friday, the rupee had slipped 17 paise to close at an all-time low of 90.49 against the American currency.
Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.05 per cent lower at 98.35.
Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, was trading higher by 0.52 per cent at USD 61.44 per barrel in futures trade.
On the domestic equity market front, the 30-share benchmark index Sensex was trading 298.86 points lower at 84,968.80, while the Nifty was down 121.40 points at 25,925.55.
Foreign Institutional Investors sold equities worth Rs 1,114.22 crore on Friday, according to exchange data.
"FPIs continue to be in selling mode in equity and debt while RBI has been selling dollars to fund their long positions," said Anil Kumar Bhansali, Head of Treasury and Executive Director Finrex Treasury Advisors LLP.
