BENGALURU: Terming Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai’s maiden budget as lacking in vision, Opposition leader in the Assembly, Siddaramaiah, said that he was hoping it would have former CM SR Bommai’s influence, but has more of RSS imprint. “I was disappointed,’’ he remarked.
Speaking in the Assembly on Monday, Siddaramiah, who initiated a discussion on the budget, said Basavaraj Bommai, who comes from a non-RSS background, was made the CM while original RSS people were ignored. “Basavaraj Bommai had the influence of his father S R Bommai’s socialist ideology and I was hoping his budget will have his father’s stamp. If someone with an RSS background had presented this budget, I would not have felt bad. Basavaraj Bommai has become more of an RSS man and so is his budget,’’ he said.
Siddaramaiah said that in order to cover its mistakes, the BJP government is blaming the Covid-19 situation. Citing the lockdowns, the government said it was not able to collect taxes and therefore, went for borrowings. Even the Fiscal Responsibility Act was amended to facilitate this.
“The double engine government has failed miserably’’ he asserted. Till 2018, the state had loans of Rs 2.42 lakh crore which will increase to Rs 5.18 lakh crore by the end of March 2023. This year alone, the State Government has to pay more than Rs 43,000 crore including Rs 27,000 crore interest on the loans, he noted. Training his guns on the Centre, Siddaramaiah said Karnataka pays more than Rs 3 lakh crore in taxes but, in return, gets only Rs 44,000 crore.
Outsider who?
When Siddaramaiah began his speech, he said there were many leaders with RSS background “including you (referring to Revenue Minister R Ashoka) and KS Eshwarappa. But ignoring them, Bommai, who was not even in touch with the RSS or BJP till 2008, was made CM”. To this, Ashoka retorted saying Siddaramiah himself was also not from Congress, but was made CM in 2013.