Karnataka and helicopters: that’s it. That’s the news. But it would be far too easy to club two separate issues, which have caused a political tug-of-war in the Congress-ruled state even though there is at least one common factor in both – the mighty chopper.
The first has to do with a massive controversy over the inauguration of a helicopter assembly unit in Kolar district and the other is all about scrutiny over Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s chopper rides.
Congress MLA from Kolar, Kothur Manjunath has sparked a row over “protocol lapse" after he expressed his disappointment over receiving an email invite to the inauguration of a helicopter assembly unit in his district, which was presided over by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh.
Kothur Manjunath, however, went a step ahead and called for a power cut to the helicopter unit, in protest against what he called “inadequate employment" to local residents by Tata Advanced Systems.
“They have taken our land but are not giving jobs to our people, nor allowing them inside. Let us see if they understand the power of elected representatives," Majunath told reporters at the panchayat office in Vemagal.
Manjunath alleged protocol violations, saying local elected representatives were not invited to the inauguration of the helicopter assembly unit at the Vemagal Industrial Area, where the facility was inaugurated by Prime Minister Modi on February 17. He alleged that MLAs, MLCs and members of the Vemagal town panchayat were ignored and not invited to the event, terming it a serious lapse in protocol.
He expressed strong displeasure over what he described as the sidelining of local representatives despite the project being set up on land in the region. In what sounded like threats, he called for the electricity connection to the helicopter unit to be cut, or a trench to be dug up in front of the factory gates and said a tractor could be rammed into the pole that supplies power to the facility.
That was not all, the Congress MLA alleged that while the land was locally acquired, the residents did not get adequate employment and were being offered the jobs of guards while “outsiders" snatched away better posts.
Reacting to him, JD(S) leader Nikhil Kumaraswamy said his remarks are provocative and MLAs need to support industrial growth in Karnataka.
“It’s better if the Congress MLA supports this project brought by the Union government instead of talking about who was not invited, who was invited, etc," Kumaraswamy said.
Source: Politics News in news18.com, Politics Latest News, Politics News
