BENGALURU: The Opposition Congress has slammed the state government over Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot’s address to the joint sitting of the state legislature on Friday.
Opposition Leader in the Assembly Siddaramaiah and State Congress president D K Shivakumar said the governor has not spoken about taking measures to fight corruption, which is a major issue in the state.
Corruption is the biggest threat to the state, but there is a not even a word in the governor’s address about measures taken to end it, said Siddaramaiah. The Congress leader abstained from the session on Friday as he was busy with the party’s yatra in the North Karnataka region.
He said the state government is not giving importance to major problems like corruption, unemployment, price rise, agriculture crisis and problems faced by weavers and small-scale industries. The governor’s speech was about the state government’s achievements in the last year, but the government has not done any work, he said. “In the 82-paragraph speech, the governor has not spoken a word about addressing the problems,” he said.
Though water is available in abundance in North Karnataka, the government has failed to provide adequate irrigation facilities in Koppal, Yadgir, Ballari and other districts, he said. North Karnataka is backward in many aspects, but the governor’s address has no mention of a comprehensive development plan for the region, he said.
The former CM said Bengaluru contributes around 70% to the state’s revenue, but there is no clarity on the government’s plans to develop the city, and Bengaluru Development Authority (BDA) layouts mentioned in the governor’s speech were developed during the Congress government, he said.
Many of the programmes mentioned in the governor’s address were started during the Congress government, he added.
Shivakumar said the governor’s speech is a “bundle of lies” and the BJP government is taking credit for the Congress government’s works.