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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Over half a dozen passenger trains cancelled for three days due to elephant movements
Jamshedpur (PTI): Over half a dozen passenger trains will remain cancelled for three days from December 22 under the Chakradharpur division of South Eastern Railway due to the movement of elephants, a railway statement said on Sunday.
The Memu train services will remain cancelled between December 22 to 24, a South Eastern Railway statement said.
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Movement of a herd of elephants has been noticed near rail tracks between Chakradharpur (Jharkhand's Singhbhum)-Jharsuguda (Odisha) section of the division, especially Bandamuna during night, said Senior Divisional Commercial Manager, Chakradharpur division of S E Railway, Aditya Choudhary.
The train services are being slowed down, causing traffic congestion and subsequently delaying train movements, he said.
The trains which will remain cancelled due to elephant movements in the section include 68025/68026(Ckp-Rou-Ckp), 68043/68044 (Tata-Rou-Tata), 18175/18176(Hte-Jsg-Hte), 68029/68030 (Rou-Jsg-Rou), 58151/58152 (Brmp-Bxf-Brmp) PASS, 68125/68126 (Tata-Bbn-Tata) MEMU, 68019/68020 (Tata-Gua-Tata) Memu, 68010/68009/68006 (Ckp-Tata-Kgp-Ckp) Memu, it added.
