Mangaluru: With just a fortnight to go for the elections, political parties have been leveling charges against each other in a bid to undermine their opponents.
Coming under the line of fire of such attacks happens to be MLA J R Lobo, who according to reports, is alleged to have misappropriated Rs 750 Crore allocated for the UGD works under the Karnataka Urban Development and Coastal Environment Management (KUDCEM) project. News of the said corruption charges have been flashed on television channels just ahead of the polls.
Calling a press conference to clarify the issue, J R Lobo on Saturday, said that these allegations were baseless and were aimed at defaming him. “These are attempts to mentally harass me,” said Lobo claiming that he was open for a Lokayukta probe into the allegations leveled against him and he was ready to face punishment if found to be on the erring side.
Providing details on the project, Lobo said that the project had been undertaken between 2011-13 post his release from the position of Deputy Project Director, KUDCEMP and questioned the motive of the allegations leveled against him, especially since he was not even holding office then.
“In 2003, the state government ordered that the Mangaluru City Corporation (MCC) should be the implementing authority for the project. In January 2003, I had assumed office as Deputy Project Director, Karnataka Urban Development and Coastal Environment Management Project (KUDCEMP) and was transferred from the position in December 2009. During my stint, I have given importance to drinking water projects in the city, and the UGD work remained pending,” said Lobo adding that the union government then had been appreciative of various ADB projects during his tenure.
Stating that airing of such baseless news was in violation of model code of conduct, Lobo said that he would file a criminal defamation suit against the opposition for unnecessarily dragging his name in the project.
Lobo also said that he had obtained an injuction order against the private TV channel for airing the news.
Lobo will be contesting on a Congress ticket from Mangaluru South Constituency in the upcoming polls to be held on May 12.
