‘Allegations by Opposition that State Govt is Dead is Baseless’ -MLC Ivan D’Souza
Mangaluru: During a press meet held at his office in the MCC building, MLC Ivan D’souza ridiculed state Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president B S Yeddyurappa and other BJP leaders for repeatedly claiming that the coalition government will collapse and die soon. Addressing the media persons Ivan said, ” Janata Dal (Secular)-Congress government is still a “strong” one, but the allegations made by the opposition leaders don’t make any sense. We are still working on the projects assured by the chief minister and will complete them soon. Which article in the Constitution gave the BJP the right to topple a state government? Their allegations are nothing but baseless”.
MLC Ivan further said, “From the Vanijya Bank (Commercial Bank) Rs 16.75 crore was sanctioned, of which Rs 10.73 crore is distributed, while Rs 5.99 is still pending to be given out. During BJP govt under Yeddyurappa, only 38,000 BPL cards were distributed but under our govt. 1 Crore 21 lakh BPL cards have been issued. Everyone is receiving the benefits as assured by the govt, but sometimes it will take a little extra time, due to procedures and formalities. So citizens of Karnataka should not take for granted whatever the opposition members are saying”.
Prior to the press meet, Ivan distributed cheques worth of Rs 4,36,128 from the Chief Minister Relief Funds to a bevy of 12 recipients, for their illness expenses as requested by them. Among them was Abdul Sattar who received a cheque for Rs 1 lakh; Mohan Talapady (Rs 73,989); Evelyn Aranha (Rs 75,000); Malathi Shetty (Rs 42,048); John Lasrado (Rs 28,437); Kathijamma Puttur (Rs 33,803), among others.
MLC Ivan also brought to the notice of the sad demise of renowned Advocate in Criminal Cases Seetharam Shetty and said that Shetty was his mentor while he was pursuing his lawyer career. A condolence/visitation is scheduled at the Loyola Hall, St Aloysius PUC, Mangaluru between 2-3 pm tomorrow (14 June)