BJP & JDS will stop guarantees if voted to power, says DK Shivakumar
He said Congress district-and block-level leaders must inform the party leadership about the inconvenience faced by the people in availing the guarantees.
Published: 20th November 2023 07:05 AM | Last Updated: 20th November 2023 07:05 AM | A+A A-
Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar. (Photo | Express)
BENGALURU: Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar on Sunday hit out at the opposition BJP and JDS accusing them of opposing the guarantee schemes introduced by the Congress government in Karnataka. “If people vote for BJP or its ally JDS in the ensuing Lok Sabha elections, they will discontinue the guarantee schemes.
They might pass a law to withdraw the guarantees,” Shivakumar, who is also KPCC chief, said at a programme organised in the Congress office on the birth anniversary of former prime minister Indira Gandhi.
“BJP and JDS oppose the guarantee schemes. Congress workers should take these issues to the voters and make them aware of the anti-people mindset of the two parties,” he said, reiterating that the Congress will not stop or tweak the guarantee schemes. He also accused PM Modi of offering guarantees in poll-bound states by borrowing the concept from Congress.
On Shikaripura MLA BY Vijayendra being appointed as the state BJP president, Shivakumar said, “Let BJP make anyone their party president or the leader of the opposition. We will not worry about it. We have nothing to do with it.” He said Congress district-and block-level leaders must inform the party leadership about the inconvenience faced by the people in availing the guarantees.
The DyCM added that ministers have been instructed to ensure that the guarantees reach the people, find out the reasons for hurdles, if any, and find solutions. He said the party will celebrate November 28 as Congress Founder’s Day and a committee will be formed to survey whether the benefits of the guarantee schemes have reached the people.
“When I went to meet former CM BS Yediyurappa before taking oath as DyCM earlier this year, he told me ‘DK you should implement two guarantee schemes this year’. I laughed and said, ‘Yes, Sir’. But In the first cabinet meeting itself, we implemented four of the five guarantees,” he elaborated.
He said that Indira Gandhi was the first PM to give guarantee schemes to the country in the form of nationalisation of banks. He recalled that he once borrowed Rs 3,000 from moneylenders to buy a bike and paid Rs 500 per month as instalment. “At that time, there was no system of lending to the common man in the banks. Nationalisation of banks changed it,” he said. He said former AICC president Sonia Gandhi’s book on Indira Gandhi will soon be published in Kannada.
