Will question govt plea to withdraw 142 cases: MLA

Mangaluru: Mangaluru North MLA Dr Y Bharath Shetty on Tuesday said he will question the state government’s decision to withdraw prosecution in 142 cases.
Of these, one case pertains to the infamous assault on two women belonging to a community in Ulaibettu on the outskirts of Mangaluru around four years ago. Dr Shetty called the development, “a move to appease a particular community,” in the run up to the Lok Sabha elections.

The MLA took a dig at chief minister H D Kumaraswamy, alleging that the chief minister was trying to foment communal tension in the coast for political gains.

Taking umbrage to the media reports in which Kumaraswamy was quoted as saying that no incident involving communal overtones had occurred in sensitive Dakshina Kannada district after he assumed charged as the chief minister, Dr Shetty said the credit should go to the seven MLAs from the BJP who he said ensured peace and wellbeing of residents.

Speaking about the Congress’ election manifesto for Dakshina Kannada, Dr Shetty said the district leaders had made assurances under categories that fall under the state government and not the Union government.

Rubbishing allegations against the BJP candidate Nalin Kumar Kateel, that the two-time MP had done nothing substantial for the district, Dr Shetty said he had got projects worth Rs 16,500 crore to his constituency. He also said the fact that a fisheries jetty, which was assured to Mangaluru by former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in the 1970s, became a reality only recently under the leadership of Nalin, spoke for itself.