Bengaluru: Senior BJP leader and MLA Umesh Katti accused Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa (BSY) of acting like the ‘CM of Shivamogga District.’

Talking to a media here yesterday, he alleged that the CM has totally neglected the State development in the midst of COVID-19 and drugs scam. The State machinery has come to a grinding halt and North Karnataka districts were denied of development. 

“In view of this, I have decided to contest the next Assembly election as an independent candidate and not on BJP ticket,” he said.

Katti challenged to see the documents to check the amount of money being released to Shivamogga district in the last one year. This shows that Yediyurappa was more bothered about the development of his home district than of the State. Works in MLA Constituencies were not happening in the Government level but the works of only a few individuals were sanctioned. Hitherto, they were coming to Bengaluru to get the works pertaining to their Constituencies cleared and now they have stopped as it was of no use, Katti observed.

Even several years after the final verdict of the Bachawat Commission, no Government was interested to utilise its additional share of water. This kind of negligence on the part of the Government had given a thought whether they wanted such a Government. The height of Almatti Dam must be increased in order to utilise hundreds of tmc ft of water. But nothing has been done to mitigate drinking water problems in North Karnataka region.

The Government required Rs.2 lakh crore to complete all pending projects in Krishna Basin, he added. Katti said the Coronavirus and the drugs scandal have become important for the Government and rest of the issues were totally neglected.

Employment generating industries were not coming to North Karnataka and the youths were depending upon only on the sugar factories and other small industries, he said adding that there has been no development in the State in the last one year.