Chief Minister Siddaramaiah referred to the Union Government’s ‘’apathy’’ towards the distress caused by drought in Karnataka and said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has no moral right to seek votes in the State. His remarks come a day ahead of Prime Minister’s visit to Karnataka for election campaign.
Mr. Siddaramaiah was addressing a public rally in the Krishnaraja Assembly segment under Mysuru Parliamentary constituency on April 13. The Chief Minister said that Mr. Modi will be in Mysuru on April 14 and people should raise questions about his indifference when the State was reeling under flood or when it has been affected by the drought.
‘’Though we had sought ₹18,171 crore to take up drought relief works, Mr. Modi has not released a single paisa so far and this is because there was a Congress government in Karnataka’’, Mr. Siddaramaiah added.
The Chief Minister said standing crops more than 48 lakh hectares had been affected while ₹35,000 crore is the value of crop loss suffered by the farmers. While 2224 out of 243 taluks have been declared drought-affected which was the worst in the last 100 years, Prime Minister has remained unmoved, said Mr. Siddaramaiah.
He also questioned whether candidates from the BJP should be elected at all if they fail to raise the voice of people of Karnataka in the Parliament. ‘’Last time 27 MPs belonged to the BJP and not one of them spoke of the injustice meted out to the State and hence there was no reason why BJP candidates should be voted’’, Mr. Siddaramaiah added.
He said the contribution to Mysuru of the local MP Mr. Pratap Simha was also a zero though he claimed credit for all the works and projects approved by the Congress between 2013-18. “Similarly, the Bengaluru-Mysuru Expressway was also approved by the Congress in Karnataka and UPA at the Centre,” he said.
Mr. Simha was elected twice as MP from Mysuru and having realised that he was bound to lose the coming elections the BJP has changed the candidate. ‘’Had he really worked for the welfare of the people and the development of the constituency, he would not have been eased out’’, Mr. Siddaramaiah added.
“Though the BJP claims that the projects were funded by them, it should be borne in mind that Karnataka contributes more than ₹4.7 lakh crore by way of GST and other taxes and it was not an act of munificence from the Union Government,” said Mr. Siddaramaiah.
Continuing his tirade against the BJP, Mr. Siddaramaiah said that the Congress implemented five guarantee schemes which has empowered the poor and they were in a position to procure basic amenities due to the savings incurred by the guarantee schemes. This increase in transaction is bound to result in higher revenue by way of taxes to the Government, said Mr.Siddaramaiah.
He cautioned people not to be swayed by BJP’s ‘’false propaganda’’ that the schemes will be stopped after the Lok Sabha elections and said under no circumstances will they be stopped. ‘’From Rs.36000 crore spent last year, we have earmarked Rs.52,009 crore for the schemes in the budget for 2024-25 .In contrast none of the promises made by Mr.Modi in the runup to the elections in 2014, have been implemented’’, said Mr.Siddaramaiah.
