BENGALURU: Poll-bound Karnataka has high expectations from the Union Budget which will be presented by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, her fifth, on Wednesday. The Union Budget is being presented just three weeks before the State Budget which will be presented by Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on February 17. Expectations are high also because Sitharaman is a Rajya Sabha member from Karnataka.
Speaking to The New Indian Express, Prof Sandeep Shastri, political analyst said Karnataka can expect big as the state is going to polls. This is normal as the Union government treats or announces special allocations for poll-bound states. Karnataka will get a “special treatment” in the Union Budget, he said.
Prof Shastri said that the Union Budget is likely to focus on infrastructure development with more stress on Bengaluru and it will also have a pro-poor stamp to woo voters.
A senior leader from the BJP in Karnataka said, there is pressure on the state as well as Central party leaders to do well in the polls. “The Union Budget will definitely have big announcements for Karnataka. In previous years, there were good allocations for West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh and other states that were going to polls then. If we do not make big offers to the state, it will give ammo to the opposition parties to target us,” he said.
Budget will boost farming sector: BC Patil
Agriculture Minister BC Patil said as this year has been dclared ‘International Year of Millet’ and Karnataka being a pioneer in the millet sector, one can hope for big allocations to the farming sector.
However, some feel that the Union Budget will not have anything new for the state, but instead the fund allocation for the ongoing big projects in Karnataka will be increased.
According to BT Manohar, member of State Tax Committee, FKCCI, the Budget is crucial as CM Bommai will be presenting the last budget of this term which will be vote-on-account. Karnataka stands second in the country in terms of highest collection of GST. “State government will expect big financial support from the Union government for various ongoing projects like Metro, Suburban rail or mega irrigation projectsin different districts and towns. Funds are also expected to be released for development of Tier-II and Tier-III cities in Karnataka,” he said.