MANGALURU: Karnataka BJP president Nalin Kumar Kateel on Thursday lashed out at the Congress government in the state for delaying the implementation of its five guarantees on the pretext of framing guidelines.
Addressing a press meet, Kateel said the Congress had promised to implement all the five guarantees within 24 hours of coming to power. But now, it appears they have betrayed people. “People have realised that the Congress is a party of liars and betrayers. Siddaramaiah who has huge experience as finance minister of the state has lied to the people, despite knowing that the guarantees are not financially prudent,” Kateel alleged.
He demanded that the Congress should apologise to the people and implement its poll promises at the earliest. On the Yuva Nidhi scheme, Kateel said the Congress had not mentioned about any condition while announcing it during the election.
“The Congress has now added the condition that only those who pass the exams in 2022-23 are qualified for Yuva Nidhi. Incidentally, the exam results are yet to be announced. Transport Minister Ramalinga Reddy has said that the KSRTC will not be able to implement the free travel scheme for women without government funding,” Kateel pointed out.
To a query, he accused the Congress of trying to divert people’s attention by “spreading lies that the Centre has promised Rs 15 lakh to the account of every citizen”. Prime Minister Narendra Modi did not issue guarantee cards promising Rs 15 lakh, he said.
Meanwhile, Kateel claimed that the BJP government at the Centre has sanctioned various projects worth Rs 38,000 crore to Dakshina Kannada in the past nine years. He said the revised Shirady Ghat tunneling project, with an estimate of Rs 2,500 crore, has been cleared. As per the revised plan, only three tunnels will be drilled into the ghat and flyovers will be built elsewhere.