Brushing aside BJP criticism over the guarantee schemes of the ruling Congress, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah asserted that his government would definitely implement all the five guarantees without compromising on development of Karnataka.
“Prime Minister Narendra Modi has, in a recent public meeting, said that implementation of guarantees would bankrupt Karnataka. On another occasion, he added that the schemes would affect development works in Karnataka. I would like to tell him that we are already implementing the schemes, and the required funds have already been allocated for the current financial year. Has Karnataka become bankrupt? I would also like to declare that we will continue to implement all other development works,” Mr. Siddaramaiah said after formally launching the Gruha Jyothi scheme, one of the five guarantees of the Congress, at a public meeting in Kalaburagi on August 5.
The Chief Minister launched the scheme by switching on a light in a model of a house. He also handed over zero electricity bills to 10 selected beneficiaries to symbolically mark the beginning of the scheme, in the presence of All India Congress Committee president and Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha M. Mallikarjun Kharge, Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar, Energy Minister K.J. George, Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Minister Priyank Kharge, Medical Education Minister Sharan Prakash Patil and his other cabinet colleagues.
Throughout his address, he attacked Mr. Modi and challenged him to implement the five guarantees in the entire country. He declared that the Congress would not follow the so-called Gujarat model, but ‘pursue its own model of harmony and progress advocated by Buddha, Basavanna and Ambedkar’.
“Mr. Modi and BJP are anti-poor. The Food Corporation of India (FCI) had assured to provide 2.29 lakh million tonnes (MT) of rice for the Anna Bhagya scheme. Later, BJP forced FCI to deny the rice to Karnataka. But we are determined to implement the scheme. We are giving 5 kg of rice and transferring money directly to the bank accounts of beneficiaries for the remaining 5 kg. Our Gruha Lakshmi under which 1.28 crore families get ₹2,000 a month is, perhaps, the biggest welfare scheme implemented by any State in India. People are hit hard by the skyrocketing prices of essential commodities and our guarantee schemes would give them some relief. Mr Modi is snatching money from people, and we are putting money back into their pockets,” Mr. Siddaramaiah said.
Mr. Kharge said that the guarantee schemes being implemented by the Congress government in the State were widely appreciated not just by the people of Karnataka but by that of entire India.
“Whenever Congress comes to power, it introduces new welfare programmes that would help poor and working masses. The previous Siddaramaiah government had implemented many pro-people programmes, and now it is implementing more such programmes. The BJP did not implement a single pro-people scheme when it was in power in Karnataka. Congress is known for fulfilling its promises, and BJP is known for breaking promises,” Mr. Kharge said recalling how the BJP government did not keep its promise of generating two crore jobs a year and depositing ₹15 lakh in the account of every household.
Claiming Congress as the only party that could protect the country and safeguard the interests of the poor and toiling masses, Mr. Kharge called upon the people to bring his party to power in India.
