JOIN US... and some brickbats too
But Ugrappa was at the receiving end when he made some adverse comments against the fund collection drive.
At the all-party meeting convened by the CM on Sunday, Ugrappa said during the CM’s collection drive even the agencies of government like BWSSB and APMC presented cheques. “Please don’t do such drama. You could have collected the cheques at Vidhana Soudha.”
Irked by his comment, the BJP leaders including MP Ananth Kumar hit back at Ugrappa by saying that there was nothing wrong in it. The BJP men also pointed out that Congress leader Veerappa Moily himself has opined that the flood issue should not be politicised. Surprisingly, Ugrappa himself later said the BJP leaders too should be restrained while making comments in public.
But he also made a good number of suggestions to the government which included destroying the rotten crops and immediate release of compensation to the victims.
Earlier, Congress MLA Siddaramaiah said the government reacted to the floods belatedly. If proper action had been taken from September 30, some more lives could have been saved. The Disaster Management Authority headed by the CM has not met even once after its formation, he pointed out.
He also blamed the media for commenting that the Centre has adopted step-motherly attitude towards Karnataka while favouring AP.
At this point, Minister Katta Subramanya Naidu said AP and Karnataka have received Rs 1,000 crore each though there were more deaths here. The CM immediately asked Naidu not to make such comments.
It is KPCC President R V Deshpande, who received a compliment from the CM for trying hard to get funds from the Centre to the State.
JD(S) leader Kumaraswamy said that the CM, instead of raising funds in the City, should have camped in the affected areas.
But his father H D Deve Gowda, in a letter to the CM, has complimented him for his efforts and also extended support to him.