BELAGAVI: In order to light up the lives of the people in Karnataka who are shaken by the worsening inflation rate, KPCC President D K Shivakumar announced that the Congress party will provide electricity up to 200-unit free of cost to every household in the state if the party comes to power after the 2023 elections.
Addressing the Congress party's Prajadhwani convention at Chikkodi on Wednesday, Shivakumar called the launch of the Prajadhwani bus yatra of the Congress as a historic event. "The Congress party is attempting to gather opinions of the people about their problems and pains by having the yatra and responding to the same as 'Pratidhwani' (echo). The aim of Pratidhwani bus yatra is to light up people's lives in the state and resolve their problems,'' he said.
In the 1924 Congress Plenary held at Veerasoudha in Belagavi, Mahatma Gandhi who had presided over it, had resolved to kick the British out of India to restore democracy in the country, said Shivakumar, adding that the Congress party too resolved to launch its fight from the same venue today.
He said the Congress workers reached Chikkodi after cleaning the BJP filth in Belagavi with the water drawn from Congress well at Veerasoudha which was used by Gandhiji during the plenary session.
While stating that the Congress party always kept its words whenever it came to power by fulfilling the promises it made to the people prior to the elections, Shivakumar said the BJP played with the lives of people without giving them what it promised before the election.
After coming to power three years ago via Operation Lotus, the BJP went on to become a 'B-report' government by giving clean chits to its ministers who were involved in various scams. The BJP claimed that its tainted ministers did not commit any offences and therefore gave clean chits.
Calling the state government a '40 percent commission' government, Shivakumar said, "the state government is sowing the seeds of communal hatred among people and is involved in corruption by fixing the 'rates' (bribe) like prices on a hotel menu card. The rates and commissions are fixed by the government which are Rs 2500 crore for the post of Chief Minister, Rs 100 crore for the post of Minister, Rs 15 crore for Commissioner, 40 percent for PWD works, 40 percent for funds given to Mutts, 30 per cent commission for supply of eggs, etc.''
The State Contractors Association which had a membership of more than 2 lakh contractors wrote a letter to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi about the huge commission of 40 per cent demanded for the works in the state, recalled Shivakumar.