BENGALURU: Former minister and KPCC working president R Ramalinga Reddy on Saturday questioned the Basavaraj Bommai-led BJP government whether its decision to lift the weekend curfew was politically motivated or one that followed expert opinion.
"If they had taken expert opinion earlier, there was no need to impose curfew in the first place. But now, at a time when COVID-19 cases are surging, with 48,000 fresh cases being reported in the state on Friday alone, the curfew has been relaxed," he told reporters.
Meanwhile, the kin of just 5 per cent of the 37,000 people who succumbed to the pandemic, as per ICMR reports, have been compensated, while a mere 7 per cent of all labourers, drivers, and others, whose livelihoods were affected amidst the lockdowns, and were entitled for a compensation of Rs 2,000-3,000, have received relief from the government, he alleged.
"Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitaraman had announced Rs 20 lakh crore as 'Atmanirbhar' package, but we do not know how many have benefited from it," he sought to know.
BBMP polls in April
Reddy has predicted that the polls to the BBMP would be held in April, and sarcastically attributed the government's decision to 'Keshavakripa' -- the BJP’s power centre -- having given its green signal. "The delimitation of the 243 wards have been done to favour the BJP, as the party had faced a debacle in the recently-held ULBs polls," he alleged.