BENGALURU: The issue of some unhappy legislators writing a letter to the chief minister was taken up at the Congress Legislature Party on Thursday, with Chief Minister Siddaramaiah asking the MLAs why they had written the letter and made the issue public, much to the embarrassment of the party. In response to complaints about access to ministers, Siddaramaiah said, “Despite administrative pressures, I will call a meeting of district MLAs once in about four weeks to discuss the grievances of the constituency, and ensure that proper work is done by the government.”
He cautioned the MLAs, “If there are any differences, tell me directly and discuss it in the party forum, not in the public and media.” Some of the MLAs had raised the issue of grants to their constituencies, and others had raised the issue of transfers. To this, BR Patil and other legislators, who had written the letter, expressed regret and said they did not anticipate it would embarrass the party.
On his non-availability to MLAs, Siddaramaiah said he had been busy with the budget and the Opposition meeting. “The burden of guarantees was estimated to be Rs 58,000 crore, so it was necessary to prepare this budget very carefully, and also allocate funds for the five guarantees, so I had to prepare the budget myself. I could not concentrate on other things. In the middle of the session, we held a meeting of Opposition party leaders. As soon as the meeting was over, our top brass decided to hold a meeting with MLAs and ministers,” he said, explaining how it had delayed his meeting with MLAs.
Attacking the BJP and Sangh Parivar as a “manufactory of lies”, Siddaramaiah said, “First they confidently utter half-truths and lies, next they repeat their falsehood again and again.’’ He said that unlike
in the past when their lies went unchallenged, now they will be discussed in public domain, in newspapers and on television, where the lies will stand exposed.
Siddaramaiah asked the Congress to understand the BJP and Sangh strategies, and effectively counter them. “It’s important as the Lok Sabha poll notification is only about seven months away. They are diverting the attention of the people from the success of the five guarantees. Every MLA should be on alert and not be a pawn in their lies,” he said. “More than 96 per cent of the people have welcomed the schemes which are for all castes, religions and classes. The BJP is creating lies and fake videos to divert the attention of the people.”
BJP TAKES JIBE AT SHIVAKUMAR’S STATEMENT ON DEVELOPMENT
The BJP took a jibe at DyCM DK Shivakumar, reportedly stating that the government cannot provide funds for development as the five guarantees have to be implemented, after MLAs raised the issue. Union Minister Pralhad Joshi said the Congress government, which came to power by promising guarantees, is betraying people on the development front. BJP national IT department in-charge Amit Malviya also picked up Shivakumar’s statement and attacked the Congress government. “We have had to set aside 40,000 crore this year (for the 5 guarantees). This year, we can’t provide development. Congress will ruin Karnataka. There is no sign of the 5 guarantees being implemented. and now no development too. MLAs will have no face (sic),” he tweeted.