BENGALURU: Bowing out as Chief Minister Siddaramaiah listed out his achievements during the two tenures he had over eight years and thanked the seven crore Kannadigas as well as the Congress leadership for the opportunity to serve the state in a press conference.
At a press conference at his residence, Krishna, on Thursday that lasted 40 minutes, Siddaramaiah used the Kannada matinee idol late Dr Rajkumar’s legendary phrase ‘Abhimani devarugalu’ (fan-gods) to express his gratitude to his supporters. He also thanked the Congress leadership of Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge for giving him the opportunity as well as party workers, legislators and MPs who showered their affection since he joined the party in 2006.
Siddaramaiah, who broke down in a breakfast meeting he hosted for his cabinet colleagues earlier in the day, eventually looked composed at the press conference which he addressed after submitting his resignation at Lok Bhavan in the afternoon. “I come from a village with no political background. My family members, including my parents, were illiterate. So, I never dreamt of becoming an MLA, minister, LoP or CM,” he said.
“Until my last breath I will fight against communal forces. I have faith in the Constitution. If it was not for the Constitution, I would not have become an MLA and CM, but would have remained a shepherd or a tenant farmer,” he said.
He said politicians can sustain their power only if they have the backing of the people. “I never compromised with my ideology of ensuring that every last person in society gets access to basic needs such as food, health, education and housing,” he said.
The Five Guarantees worked in that direction, he added. He said that since the beginning of his political career starting as a taluk board member in Mysuru in 1978, he has believed in the principles of Buddha, Basavanna and Mahatma Gandhi. He said he believes in Rashtrakavi Kuvempus’ concept of ‘sarva janangada shantiya tota’ (garden of peace of all communities), saying that everyone should get equal opportunities in society.
He said that as CM he fulfilled 158 of the 165 promises during his first term (2013-2018) and 300 out of the 550 promises during the current term. He said that Rs 1.4 lakh crore was spent on the five guarantees that revolutionised the lives of people as their purchasing power has improved.
Siddaramaiah said he disproved of the ‘false propaganda’ of opposition parties and Prime Minister Narendra Modi that the Congress government will go bankrupt if the guarantees were implemented. Karnataka stands first in per capita income, second in GST collection for the financial year 2026-27, and the state’s growth rate stood at 8.1 percent as against country’s 7.4 per cent, he pointed out.
He dismissed allegations that the debts were on the rise, saying they were within the parameters of Karnataka Fiscal Responsibility Act, 2002, enacted during the tenure of late SM Krishna. The total liabilities were at 24.94% of GSDP, below 25%, and the fiscal deficit (2.95%) is below 3%, he pointed out.
Siddaramaiah, who has presented a record 17 budgets, blamed the Centre for the state’s revenue deficit of Rs 22,957 crore in the 2026-27 budget as it had not released the grants due to the state. The state was deprived of Rs 11,495 crore grants, Rs 5,300 crore promised in the 2023-24 Union Budget, Rs 17,000 crore under Jal Jivan Mission, he said. The GST compensation too was stopped, he added.
He recalled that it was Sira’s (Tumakuru district) Ashraf Hussain who introduced him to the late Ahmed Patel who, in turn, introduced him to Sonia Gandhi that eventually led him to join Congress with eight JDS MLAs.