Sharply attacking Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa for diverting the grant released to Gurmitkal constituency under Hyderabad Karnataka Region Development Board (HKRDB), JD(S) MLA Nagana Gowda Kandkur said he would fight against the CM’s move till he get justice.
Addressing at a press conference in Yadgir on Sunday, Mr. Kandkur said that teh CM had done this deliberately owing to his political vendetta. H.D. Kumarswamy, former CM, on using his discretionary grant in the board, had released ₹4.5 crore grant from HKRDB to develop the constituency. But, surprisingly, Mr. Yediyurappa withdrew the grant and diverted it to the constituency representing by the BJP MLA.
The MLA also said that apart from ₹4.5 crore, ₹3 crore released to Panchayat Raj Engineering Department and ₹50 lakh released for Khasamath, a religious mutt in Gurmitkal, for development was taken back without proper justification.
Mr. Kandkur, who is a close follower of the Deve Gowda family and loyalist of the party, also pointed out that the CM may have withdrawn the grant keeping the audio tape incident in the loop. It may be recalled that an audio tape containing a recording of the CM allegedly trying to lure Mr. Kandkur by talking to Sharnagowda Kandkur, the MLA’s son, with the promise of money and political positions had created a furore in February.
The MLA added that the State had failed to handle the flood situation as almost 20 districts had suffered in the disaster. No compensation had been released so far.