On the first day of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Karnataka on Monday, Leader of Opposition Siddaramaiah lashed out at him for “ignoring” the State’s interest in banking, infrastructure development, farming, and release of funds under GST and the 15h Finance Commission..
‘Disappointing’
The former Chief Minister termed as “disappointing” the Centre’s contribution to the State under various schemes. The merger four nationalised banks originated in the State, causing loss of jobs to Kannadigas, he said and termed it “a big insult to the State.” Corporation Bank, Syndicate Bank, Vijaya Bank and State Bank of Mysore had been merged with other national banks more than a year ago.
The Congress leader said that the Centre collected ₹19 lakh crore in the form of taxes from the State, but returned only ₹2.14 lakh crore. If the Centre had given 42% the amount, it would have been at ₹8 crore, Mr. Siddaramaiah said.
The sub-urban rail project was a long pendine one and it was under discussion during his tenure as the Chief Minister, Mr Siddaraiah said, and criticised Mr Modi, who came to the State after a gap of two years, for laying the foundation stone for the project now.
The Congress leader, who has been opposing the questioning of his party MP Rahul Gandhi for his alleged role in money laundering with regard to the National Herald case calling it vendetta politics, questioned Mr Modi's silence on corruption charges against the State government. "The government is submerged in scams," he alleged.
On Agnipath
Mr. Siddaramaiah also opposed the Agnipath scheme of the Centre and said the scheme would render many jobless after four years. The NDA government was firm on implementing the scheme despite protests across the north Indian States and Congress supports the protest against, though not violence associated with it, he said.
