Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar on Friday announced that the Karnataka government will stage a protest in New Delhi on February 7 against the stepmotherly treatment by the BJP government in the Centre.
Addressing a press conference here, Mr. Shivakumar, who is also the KPCC president, said: “Karnataka has been getting a raw deal in the Union Budget. The State has lost a revenue of about ₹62,000 crore in the last five years due to this. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, Cabinet Ministers, MLAs, and MLCs will also participate in the protest to be held on February 7. We have written to the Centre about the venue for the protest.”
Urging MLAs, MLCs, and MPs of the Opposition parties to be part of the protest to seek justice for the State, he said: “The size of the Union Budget, which was ₹24.5 lakh crore in 2018-19, doubled in 2023-24 to ₹45 lakh crore but the State hasn’t benefited from it. Though the Budget size has doubled, grants for Karnataka have only gone up a little from ₹46,000 crore in 2018-19 to ₹50,000 crore in 2022-23.”
“Karnataka is one of the most progressive States in the country with the second highest tax contribution to the country’s exchequer... But the State hasn’t been getting a fair share in the last five years. Though 27 of the 28 MPs from Karnataka are from the BJP, they have not been able to get justice for the State,” he said.
“Budgetary allocations for Karnataka have come down by 40%-45% since 2018-19 increasing debt burden on the State. As per a recent survey, the allocations have been coming down by around ₹7,000 to ₹10,000 crore every year. Karnataka was getting a share of 4.71% as per the 14th Finance Commission but it has been reduced to 3.64% in the 15th Finance Commission. The State has lost ₹62,000 crore due to this reduction. The State has not got many funds announced in the previous Union Budget,” he explained.
The Centre had announced ₹ 5,200 crore for the Upper Bhadra project but no funds have been released yet. They had also promised to provide funds for Bengaluru metro but nothing has been given. “I have written to the Union ministers concerned but haven’t got any respite. This is nothing but step motherly treatment towards the State,” he said.
“The State is going through a severe drought. We have been appealing for drought relief from the Centre and we have appealed to the BJP MPs from the State to put pressure on the Centre but not a single praise has been released yet. We had even requested the Centre to increase the number of man days of MGNREGA from 100 to 150,” the Deputy Chief Minister further explained.
“I am not going to compare Karnataka to Gujarat. We are just asking for our fair share. We thought the ‘double engine government’ may have helped Karnataka. But a detailed analysis shows that the State has lost ₹ 62,000 crores in spite of the Union budget doubling in size,” he said.
He said all the MPs from Karnataka should participate in the protest. Asked if former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda would be invited, he said, “We are appealing to all those who have Karnataka’s interest in mind to participate in the protest.”
