Bengaluru: The Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) working president Dinesh Gundurao on Friday demanded that Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh cancel the proposal to relocate Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) centre from Bengaluru to Chandauli in Uttar Pradesh.

“The step-motherly treatment meted to Karnataka whether in providing drought relief or in GST continues. This sudden decision of shifting the CRPF centre without any reason being given is clearly a case of a politically-motivated move by the NDA government,’’ Dinesh Gundurao told reporters here.

The CRPF has two administrative (at Taralu in Bengaluru) and three group (Taralu in Bengaluru and Pallipuram) centres in the Karnataka-Kerala sector. The KPCC working president said the move to relocate one of them from Taralu, near Kaggalipura on Kanakapura Road to the Union Home Minister’s home district is unfair to thousands of CRPF personnel from south India serving here.

“There are already five group centres in Uttar Pradesh – Lucknow, Allahabad, Rampur, Amethi and Noida. Despite having so many centres, moving one more centre to the same state does not make much sense and no explanations about this decision have been forthcoming from the Union Government,’’ he said.

He said there are about 14,000 officers and personnel serving in these two centres and this move is unfair since about 50 per cent of them are Kannadigas.

“This also raises the question as to why there is a necessity to relocate the centre from Karnataka,’’ he said.

The state government has provided 220 acres of land worth crores of rupees. There is a full-fledged campus with a hospital, school, and other amenities while Chandauli does not have the basic infrastructure in place and the UP government is still in the process of land acquisition.

“The Kannada Development Authority too has written to the Union Home Minister requesting him to cancel this notification while there has been complete silence from the 17 BJP MPs from Karnataka of whom five are minister in the Union Cabinet,’’ he said.

BJP leaders jobless

Coming down heavily on BJP leaders for making baseless allegations against Congress leaders, the KPCC working president said the BJP leaders have to allocate some time to protect Karnataka’s interests instead of indulging in cheap politics.

Stating that BJP leaders are making politically-motivated allegations against All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary and Karnataka in-charge K.C. Venugopal, he said the alleged incident took place in Kerala when Congress was in power and the then government had ordered a judicial probe into the matter.

“The committee has made it clear that there was no evidence on Venugopal’s involvement in the case. Venugopal has filed a defamation case against the woman who made the allegations against him. The case is in the court,’’ he said.

Blaming BJP leaders for raking up one or the other irrelevant issues on a daily basis, the KPCC working president questioned the motive behind BJP leaders’ allegations. “Yeddyurappa never spoke in the Lok Sabha on the issues pertaining to Karnataka. Union Ministers representing Karnataka have also never tried to protect the state’s interests,’’ he said.

Bank exams

Demanding justice for Kannadigas in rural areas, the KPCC working president has demanded Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley ensure jobs in rural banks for Kannada applicants.

“As of now, only 10 per cent of Kannada youth are getting jobs in rural banks in the state. I oppose recruiting people from northern states to work in rural banks in the state. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has already written a letter to Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley but received no reply till date,’’ he said.

Minister Roshan Baig issue

Feigning ignorance about the controversy involving Minister for Urban Development Roshan Baig, the KPCC working president has said that care should be taken to use decent language while speaking about others.

“I am not aware of it. I condemn if anyone uses indecent language while making allegations against others. Roshan Baig will give a clarification on this issue,’’ he said.