Mangaluru: Former forest minister and KPCC vice president B Ramanath Rai accused the BJP in Karnataka of making statements for political mileage with regard to the Kasturirangan report.

Rai told reporters here on Thursday that the state government is trying to gain political mileage by issuing statements opposing the Kasturirangan report. “By just opposing the report, the problems will not be solved. They will continue to exist. Let the government take action to reject the report. The BJP had stated in its election manifesto that it would reject the report. It has a double-engine government with power at the centre and state. Let it stop issuing political statements on the Kasturirangan report if it is not capable of dismissing it,” Rai said.

A report opposing the report was submitted to the centre when Congress was in power in the state. However, the report was not rejected by the NDA government, Rai said. “Since the BJP is in power at the centre and state, let it take a decision now to reject the report,” he said. On the Yettinahole project, Rai said that the project was implemented when Congress was in power.