'Goondaraj' in Karnataka: Cong

A day after the Karnataka Governor demanded action against illegal mining in the BJP-ruled state, the Congress today stepped up attack on the government dubbing its rule as "Goondaraj" and demanded action against the controversial Reddy brothers without naming them.

A day after the Karnataka Governor demanded action against illegal mining in the BJP-ruled state, the Congress on Wednesday stepped up attack on the government dubbing its rule as "Goondaraj" and demanded action against the controversial Reddy brothers without naming them.

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"What we are seeing in Karanataka is Goondaraj...What will you expect when you make Dracula the head of Blood Bank," party spokesman Abhishek Singhvi told reporters at the AICC briefing here.

Going hammer and tongs against the Yeddyurappa government, he said "there is no governance but only loot. The protectors have become predators."

"Karnataka is not being governed. There has been a complete failure of the constitutional machinery. Either the the Chief Minister is incompetent or completely collusive," Singhvi said.

In an apparent reference to Reddy brothers, he said the government should remove officials as well as ministers linked with the illegal mining.

He dared the government to constitute an independenet commission of inquiry on illegal mining or get the matter probed by the CBI.

Singhvi, however, said the Chief Minister had vigorously opposed any CBI probe.

He alleged iron ore worth Rs 350 million US dollar were taken out illegally from the state between November 2009 and February 2010.

Singhvi, however, refrained from making any demand for clamping President's rule in the state saying the party and the Union government are "not going to make martyr" of the BJP regime.

Referring to a recent incident of seizure of iron ore at a port in Karnataka, he wondered how the material reached there without being noticed by the concerned departments.