KALABURAGI: Leader of Opposition in the Assembly R Ashoka on Tuesday said that the BJP will put pressure on the Congress State Government in the upcoming winter session of the legislature to provide crop loss compensation to drought-hit farmers of Karnataka.
Ashoka was in Kalaburagi as part of BJP’s state-wide drought study tour. He visited agriculture fields in Srinivasa Saradagi village of Kalaburagi taluk and Kadaganchi village of Aland taluk.
“Farmers across Karnataka have complained to the BJP team that they have not received even a single Rupee as compensation. Farmers want the government to prioritise distribution of compensation instead of focussing on freebies,” Ashoka said. Ashoka will be visiting Bidar on Wednesday.
The BJP leader told Chief Minister Siddaramaiah not to blame the Centre and mislead people on crop compensation. “Let the CM inform people of the real facts,” he said.
Ashoka said that when he was the revenue minister, the government led by Basavaraj Bommai released double the amount prescribed in NDRF norms. “The Centre will release the compensation as per NDRF norms and the State Government has to add some amount to help the affected farmers,” he said. NDRF norms were framed when Manmohan Singh was the PM and the amount was enhanced after Narendra Modi became the PM, he added.
“Instead of blaming the Centre, let the State Government release money for compensation or let it tell the people that it has become bankrupt,” the BJP leader said, adding that the government announced the guarantees just to win the elections. He said the BJP would put the government on the mat in the upcoming session. “The Congress claims that the BJP has no issues to target the government. The Congress fails to understand that the party itself has given many weapons to fix it in the Assembly.
Apart from crop loss compensation, we also raise the issue of the ‘cash for transfer’ scam and removing the portrait of Veer Savarkar from the Council, among other issues, he said. Commenting on the recent attack on BJP leader Manikanta Rathod, Ashoka said, “Gunda culture has increased after the Congress came to power this May.” He also said that if Congress touches the RSS, it is nothing but digging its own grave.