BENGALURU: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Sunday said he will retire from politics if his statements on funds due from the Centre to the state are proved false. He again urged the Central government to release GST dues and drought relief funds to Karnataka immediately.
On the Income Tax Department freezing the accounts of Congress at the national level ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, he said, “It will be challenging to sustain our election campaign. It will be hard even to physically move about. Congress is a principal opposition party at the Centre and funds are bound to be a problem.’’
On funds due to the state, he said the Centre promised over Rs 5,300 crore for the Upper Bhadra Project, and it was included in the state budget presented by the then chief minister Basavaraj Bommai. But not a single rupee was allocated, he alleged. “It had said special grants of Rs 5,495 crore, as recommended by the 15th Finance Commission, would be released, but no money has come. They said they would give Rs 3,000 crore for Peripheral Ring Road and Rs 3,000 crore for rejuvenation of tanks, but those too have not been allocated. Will they pay by this evening, considering it is the last day of this financial year,” he said, mocking at the Centre.
“If this is not true, I will retire from politics. If the claims of Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman that the Centre owes nothing to the state is proved false, will she retire from politics? I challenge her to face us on a common platform and clarify these issues. If they don’t give the state its legitimate dues, how will we develop the state? How will we spend money on irrigation, rural development, education, health and other critical areas? Will the Union government do it? They have not given us money even for drought relief.”
On JDS supremo HD Deve Gowda’s statement that he will break Siddaramaiah’s arrogance, the chief minister said, “I have no arrogance or pride in either holding any powerful position or over money.”
He said, “Gowda has been saying in his speeches that they will implement the Mekedatu project if NDA comes to power. Why can’t they do it now? They are already in power.”
On former director of Jayadeva Institute Dr CN Manjunath contesting on a BJP ticket from the Bangalore Rural Lok Sabha constituency, Siddaramaiah said, “He is a good doctor, but not a good politician.’’
On Congress facing a standoff in Kolar, he said, “I will tell you about Kolar in two or three days.’’
On Congress’ prospects in the general elections in the state, he said the party will win both Mysuru and Chamarajanagar seats. “We will definitely win 15 seats and it could go up to 20,” he added.
He said he can sense that the people of the country are fed up with the failures of the Union government and added to it, there is no Modi wave this time. “I feel there is an undercurrent against Modi, but in favour of our party. Our guarantees and the Union government’s failures will all help Congress do well.”
He said, “Last time, they spoke about Pulwama and Article 370. What will they tell voters this time? If BJP is so sure of winning 400 seats, why is it allying with other parties? The gross misuse of the Enforcement Directorate and Income Tax Department by the Modi government will backfire and land them in trouble.”
Asked if his government is strong enough and continue after the Lok Sabha elections, he said, “BJP cannot do in Karnataka what it did in Maharashtra. They are offering Rs 50 crore to our MLAs to switch parties.”