Saturday, October 22 2005 15:36 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Bangalore: Unleashing a no-holds-bar attack on Infosys Chief N R Narayanamurthy and Maharastra Governor S M Krishna, former Prime Minister H D Devegowda today (Oct 22, 2005) directly charged that the forces which were working to destabilize the coalition Government in Karnataka have deployed Murthy's resignation as a 'last weapon' to achieve their target.

Two days after Murthy quit as Chairman of the Bangalore International Airport Ltd (BIAL) expressing displeasure over the accusations made against by Gowda and questioning the lands allotted to Infosys, the Janata Dal (JD) Secular (S) chief alleged "Murthy's resignation is being used as a last weapon to bring down the Dharam Singh Government by Krishna and his company".

"It is for the Congress President Sonia Gandhi to take decision on the continuance of the coalition government. We will not do anything to destabilize this government as promised to Gandhi", Gowda hastened to add.

Continuing his tirade against Infosys mentor, Gowda sought to belittle its contribution of the IT major to the sector, which has attracted several heads of states across the world, remarking "It's (Infosys') contribution is nothing compared to other majors in the field like WIPRO, IBM and others".

Unlike other IT firm heads, Murthy was indulging in 'politics at the behest of Krishna', he said and defended his objections over land allotments made to Infosys to the tune of 1145 acres on two locations on the city outskirts, saying, "The allotments were beyond Infosys requirements".

"We or the coalition government has not appointed Murthy as BIAL chief. It is for him to decide to continue or quit", Gowda said angrily reacting to Singh's statement that he would persuade Murthy to withdraw his resignation.

Pouring scorn on Murthy, Gowda flayed its demand for 845 acres of land allotment on Sarjhapur road, which falls in green belt and another 350 acres near the Bangalore International Airport project area to set up 'new software development centers'.

The coalition Government has processed these two applications on a lightening speed, he questioned and wanted to know why Infosys wanted to built a five-star hotel in one of its campus, seeking vindicate his earlier charge that the company was using the land for commercial purposes.

Rebutting the claims of Infosys that it has created more jobs, Gowda took a jibe at Murthy reeling out statistics on employment generation by IT sector that out of three lakh jobs Infosys share is only 22,000.

When other major IT companies such as WIPRO still churned out a higher turnover from rented buildings, why Infosys was seeking more land allotment, he asked.

Continuing his anger over the attempts made to topple the Congress-JDS coalition government, which according to him began 'barely two months after it assumed office and still continuing'.

"If IT sector had any problems on Infrastructure bottlenecks, they should approach the government intending of making it a political issue and political confrontation", Gowda said apparently referring to the media hype built over infrastructure woes of the city.

When queried whether he would bring these issues to the notice of Congress chief, he declared "Why should I. Let her know for her self".

On the claims of Murthy over his contribution to the IT sector, Gowda in his continued attack said "No body is indispensable. He (Murthy) is not a solitary individual who has contributed to the promotion of IT sector. Behind an able man there are other able men".

Murthy's resignation from BIAL would not stall the Bangalore development, Gowda said.

Gowda denied that he had made any aspersions on Murthy in his letter written to the Chief Minister demanding that land allotment to IT companies be brought to strict scrutiny.

Gowda also sought to undermine the efforts of Murthy in bringing up the much-delayed Bangalore International project to a shape, remarking "Then why all clearances were given by this coalition Government and not earlier?

Hurling brickbats at Krishna, his political adversary, Gowda charged that the Maharashtra Governor committed a 'constitutional impropriety' by indulging in politics, though he holds a constitutional post.

The President A P J Abdul Kalam and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh should take note of Krishna's 'activities' and decide on recalling the Maharashtra governor, he said, but declined to put forth such a demand on his own.

Turning to the claims of the Congress Government led by Krishna that it created a congenial investment climate in the state, he said more investments flowed during Janata Dal Government compared to the Congress regime.

He also rejected some congressmen's charges that Singh is under his control and the Congress was sinking following power sharing agreement with JDS.

"Braving all insults, my party has been cooperating with Congress in running the Government", he said.