BENGALURU: Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Monday rubbished the opposition BJP’s allegation that he has become helpless and that the administration has collapsed in the state.“Our government has not gone astray, and I am not a helpless CM. We have fulfilled the promises made to the people in the past two-and-a-half years,” he informed the Assembly in his reply to the motion of thanks on the governor’s address.
Siddaramaiah also hit back at former minister and BJP MLA Sunil Kumar, who had taunted him in the Assembly recently, saying that the chief minister now was not as effective as he was during his first tenure between 2013 and 2018.
“When I was the CM in 2013-2018, did you, the opposition party, praise me? You were criticising me even then. I am still the same now. I will continue to be so,” the CM said, adding that “sometimes, such a situation does arise when the truth becomes helpless against the lie”.
Further, the CM said that the State Government is responsive and claimed that the issues of sugarcane and maize farmers were resolved with incentives supplementing the Fair and Remunerative Price (FRP) and Minimum Support Price (MSP). “The classic example to show that we are a sensitive government is that we gave up the land acquisition process in response to the request made by farmers of Channarayapatna in Devanahalli taluk.
When Yediyurappa was the CM, farmers were killed by firing in Haveri because they could not get fertilisers. But in Mudhol, when some miscreants set fire to tractors and other vehicles in the name of farmers, we traced the miscreants and punished them... we did not fire at them and kill them,” the CM charged at the BJP.
Rubbishing opposition charges that prices of essential commodities have shot up in the state, the CM presented data and claimed that prices of fuel and liquor were low compared to other states. Stamp duty and registration is 7% in the state. In Kerala, it is 10% and Tamil Nadu 11%,” Siddaramaiah said.
Taking a dig at the Centre, the CM said that Karnataka was staring at a revenue loss of Rs 12,000 crore to Rs 18,000 crore annually owing to GST rationalisation. “What should be the situation of our budget as we are losing Rs 12,000 crore to Rs 18,000 crore annually. It is a loss to the 7 crore Kannadigas which should be a matter of concern of both the ruling and opposition parties,” Siddaramaiah fumed.
The CM said that his government has implemented the SCP/TSP scheme and urged the Union Government to do the same. “During the 2022-23 BJP term, only Rs 1,10,627 crore was provided. But from 2023-24 to 2025, we have provided Rs 1,17,197 crore. During our government’s term, Rs 1538.6 crore was provided to the corporations of various communities. The previous BJP government led by BS Yediyurappa provided Rs 472.8 crore and Basavaraj Bommai’s government granted just Rs 883 crore,” the CM said.
The BJP, however, disputed the claims made by the CM, saying that the grants were now reduced by 50%. “The MLAs are finding it difficult to select the beneficiaries due to a lack of units, which is a testimony to the grants being reduced,” said Sunil Kumar. Siddaramaiah shot back, saying that his government set up 220 hostels and the previous BJP set up only five. The BJP members strongly disputed this claim. “Our government has built 14,52,000 houses. During the BJP tenure, only 5 lakh houses were constructed. All these facts were included in the governor’s speech,” he said, only to be disputed again by the BJP.
Siddaramaiah claimed that 21 BJP leaders, including union ministers Nitin Gadkari and Jitan Ram Manjhi and Mizoram CM Lalduhoma, have appreciated Karnataka model of governance.
HAVE SUPPORT OF 139 MLAS, INCLUDING CM’S: DKS
DCM DK Shivakumar on Monday asserted that he has the support of 139 Congress MLAs, including CM Siddaramaiah. “I am completing six years as KPCC chief in March. 139 MLAs, including Siddaramaiah, are my strength.
We gave a word to the people, and we will keep up the word. I was with Siddaramaiah in his crisis, and he will be with me,” Shivakumar told the Assembly while replying to LoP R Ashoka, who claimed that there was confusion within the ruling Congress over leadership. Ashoka reminded that Shivakumar had posted on his ‘X’ account indirectly saying that Siddaramaiah should keep up his word over the change in leadership. But Shivakumar attributed it to his social media managers.
Initially, Ashoka, while starting the debate, said that Shivakumar, who seems to have garnered the support of some 56 MLAs is still in confusion as to whom to believe, as some MLAs will be with him in the morning and shift their loyalty by evening. Labour Minister Santhosh Lad got annoyed and took strong exception to this. Urban Development Minister Byrathi Suresh alleged Ashoka was trying to create a rift within the government.