Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly R. Ashok on Thursday accused the Congress government of pursuing an “anti-Hindu” policy by earmarking a meagre amount for the development of temples and mutts.
“As against the special assistance of ₹154.8 crore given to temples and mutts by the BJP government in 2022-23, the Congress government has allocated only ₹30 crore in the Budget for 2024-25. Similarly, as against the spending of ₹274 crore by the erstwhile BJP government on the development of temples, the Congress government has earmarked only ₹17 crore in the present Budget,” he claimed.
Speaking on the Budget, Mr. Ashok alleged that the Congress government had made the State to “reel under the burden of loans”, crippling growth and development.
Mr. Ashok argued that the annual borrowings of the State, which had stood at ₹44,548.72 crore in 2022-23 during the BJP dispensation had increased by 13.6% to ₹1.05 lakh crore, according to the 2024-25 Budget. With this, the total loan burden of the State had touched ₹6,65,095 crore, he said.
Because of the huge borrowings, the interest payment, which stood at ₹28,427.15 crore in 2022-23, had increased to ₹30,542.79 crore in 2023-24 and to ₹39,233.53 crore in the Budget proposal for 2024-25.
The allocation earmarked for capital expenditure in the Budget, which had stood at 19.8% during the BJP dispensation during 2022-23, had reduced to 15.63% in 2023-24 and 14.24% in 2024-25, he said.
Karnataka’s GSDP had come below that of the country’s GDP for the first time after the COVID-19 pandemic as the State had reported a GSDP of 6.6% in 2023-24 as against the country’s GDP of 7.3%. In the previous year, the State had reported a GDP of 8.1%, he said.
