Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has accused Union Home Minister Amit Shah of ‘lying blatantly’ by claiming that Karnataka had delayed submission of its memorandum to the Centre for drought relief.
Speaking to reporters in Mysuru on April 3, Mr. Siddaramaiah said the State Government had submitted its memorandum for drought relief three times by October 2023 before the Central team visited Karnataka to assess the ground situation.
“If this is false, I will resign,” Mr. Siddaramaiah said before asking Union Home Minister Amit Shah if he will submit his resignation if it is untrue.
Mr. Siddaramaiah was responding to Mr. Shah’s accusation on April 2 that the State Government delayed submission of memorandum for drought relief due to which the release of Central aid ended up before the Election Commission as the model code of conduct had kicked in.
Mr. Siddaramaiah also recalled making a trip to New Delhi along with Revenue Minister Krishna Byre Gowda to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi on December 19 to seek Central aid. He followed it up with a meeting with Mr. Shah on December 20, where he was informed by the Union Home Minister that a meeting of the high-level committee for approving Central aid was scheduled to be chaired by him on December 23, and a decision in the regard will be taken.
Even though more than four months had lapsed since the Chief Minister met the Prime Minister and Home Minister, Central aid has not been given. “How can Mr. Amit Shah say that the State delayed submitting its memorandum? We have given the memorandum six months ago. If they have not released Central aid, what moral right does he have to seek votes? How can the country’s Home Minister lie so blatantly?”
Claiming that he was ready to prove his claims, Mr. Siddaramaiah said documents relating to the State Government declaring drought, dates on which the memorandums had been submitted to the Centre and his visits to meet the Prime Minister and Home Minister had all been submitted to the Supreme Court from where the State Government had sought relief under the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF).
He also pointed out that Central aid from NDRF has to be released as per recommendations of the 15th Finance Commission whenever States face drought, flood or other natural calamities. The NDRF comprises funds from the State too, he said before asking people of the State to teach the BJP a lesson.
Taking to X (formerly Twitter), Mr. Siddaramaiah said the Union Agriculture Ministry sent Karnataka Government’s proposal to the High Level Committee chaired by the Union Home Minister in November 2023. “So, from November 2023 till now, you and your Ministry have been sleeping over the matter while our 35 lakh farmers, having suffered crop and income losses, were waiting for input subsidy of over ₹4,663 crore,” he said.
