Chitradurga : Union minister V Somanna on Sunday said he had no information about the BJP ’s proposed padayatra, even as he launched a fresh attack on the Congress over the alleged Valmiki Corporation scam.
Referring to the alleged diversion of funds in the Valmiki Corporation case, he questioned whether the money involved did not belong to Dalits and said the issue should not be used to mislead people. Speaking to reporters here, Somanna alleged that former minister B Nagendra had been made a scapegoat by the Congress. He claimed the party’s decision to appoint Nagendra as a minister was part of a larger plan. “Congress made Nagendra a minister, and that itself was its mistake. He was given the post as part of a plan to make him a scapegoat. Nagendra has fallen victim to a conspiracy hatched by the Congress,” Somanna alleged.
He said the investigation was under way and the truth would emerge in due course. Defending the decision to place the newly created Mangaluru railway division under the Mysuru jurisdiction of South Western Railway after its separation from Kerala’s Palakkad division, Somanna said Karnataka’s interests had been safeguarded. Responding to Congress leader BK Hariprasad’s remark that the BJP had no moral right to lecture others, Somanna refrained from commenting in detail. He added that the move was taken after consultations with railway officials and MPs despite opposition from Kerala.
The Union minister also expressed confidence that the Davanagere-Chitradurga-Tumakuru direct railway line would be completed before the next Lok Sabha elections.