BENGALURU: Kadur MLA Belli Prakash and Horticulture Minister KC Narayana Gowda may have clashed in the Vidhana Soudha in public. But the real issue, many MLAs complain, is that development work across their constituencies has virtually come to a standstill. MLAs from the treasury and Opposition are frustrated that funds have dried up, and projects are either on hold, or progressing slowly.
Opposition leader Siddaramaiah summed up the situation as “a complete collapse of the financial system and a bankrupt government”. Development works have been discontinued and the government has also stopped grants to legislators, he said. Belli Prakash told TNIE that this is not an issue of migrant camp vs BJP camp. “I was also in the Congress, JDS and KJP before joining the BJP. The issue is that those in power need to be responsive, they need to pick up calls and respond. We are answerable to people,’’ he said.
As one BJP MLA said, “The situation is such that it is a major breakthrough for a legislator if a minister takes calls, responds and gets work done.”Opposition MLAs from the Congress and JDS have complained about stoppage of grants and developmental funds to their constituencies. They point out that for the past year, they have had to face people who question them on development works, and that they have run out of excuses. JDS state president HK Kumaraswamy said, “The government has not even given the Rs 3.5 crore due every year, to ruling and opposition legislators as development grants. Local Area Development funds come to Rs 2 crore per annum.”