Bangalore: Accusing Chief Minister S M Krishna of "desperately" trying to "wash his
hands off" the tragic end to the Nagappa hostage crisis, Bharatiya Janata Party
(BJP) said it would hold a statewide protest on December 13 to seek his resignation
for the government's alleged failure on the issue.
Hitting back at Krishna, who on December 9 sought to turn the tables on the
Opposition on the Nagappa issue, BJP leaders Jagadish Shettar and B S Yediyurappa
charged him with trying to shift the blame for his government's "inefficiency" in
handling the crisis.
Speaking to reporters, Shettar, who is Opposition BJP leader in the Assembly said,
during the kidnap crisis, Krishna could have spoken to his counterpart in Tamil Nadu
Jayalalithaa, but did not do so "thinking he should not rub the Congress high
command on the wrong side".
The Chief Minister was now asking the Opposition why it pressured the government to
suspend operations against forest brigand Veerappan, but he should explain why he
was not serious about the operations against the bandit after the release of Kannada
thespian Rajkumar for the last two years, he said.
Yediyurappa and Shettar said the government never showed the seriousness or the
concern the Nagappa issue deserved and went about the whole issue "casually" for
three months.
They said from the circumstances, it was clear that Veerappan had killed Nagappa in
a "cold blooded pre-planned way" but "different signals" were being sent about it
from the State.
Saying Krishna had no "moral right to continue in office", they said protests in the
form of 'dharnas' would be held at the district and taluk levels. They also
questioned the need to convene the Legislature session to discuss the Nagappa issue,
wondering what could be debated now.
PTI
