HUBBALI: Top BJP leaders have denounced the state government’s move to appeal before the Supreme Court seeking funds for drought relief. They have termed it a political stunt by the government to save its skin and cover up its inability to mitigate the drought situation in the state. They have also called it hate politics.
Accusing the Siddaramaiah government of politicising financial issues, Union Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, Coal and Mines Pralhad Joshi on Tuesday said the Union government has not meted out any injustice to the State and released the funds as per the recommendations of the Finance Commission. Also, the Centre did not owe any arrears towards the state as far as the distribution of Goods and Services Tax (GST) is concerned.
“Allegations of injustice in drought relief and allocation of funds against the Centre made by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah are false propaganda. Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has already clarified on this immediately after the chief minister, his cabinet colleagues and Congress MLAs staged a protest in Delhi,” he stated.
Charging the state government with failing in drought management completely, he said that the entire state is facing the drinking water problem. Instead of taking measures to mitigate such a dire situation, the state government has gone to court against the Center to cover its blunders, which is highly condemnable. “It is nothing but politics of hate,” he added.
Meanwhile, former chief minister Basavaraj Bommai dared Siddaramaiah to disclose details of the amounts released under the NDRF to the State during the UPA rule visavis NDA governments. “The state’s economic condition has turned horrible, because of which the government moved the Supreme Court. It is nothing but a political stunt,” he ridiculed.
Reacting to the state government inviting the union finance minister for a discussion on the release of funds to the state, Joshi said that changes brought by the Centre in the State Disaster Response Fund have helped the state, but Siddaramaih has been spreading canards. Going on an appeal before the apex court ahead of the Lok Sabha elections is just a political stunt, he charged.
The union minister flatly ruled out the Finance Commission proposing a special grant for the State as being argued by the chief minister and said there is no violation of the Finance Commission’s recommendation by the Central government. If the state government feels it is not getting enough funds, it should present legitimate arguments before the newly constituted Finance Commission, he added.
Go door-to-door to increase voter turnout, Girinath asks BLOs
BBMP Chief Commissioner and District Electoral Officer Tushar Girinath asked booth-level officers (BLOs) to go door-to-door and encourage people to vote to increase the voting percentage in the city. Taking part in the training programme held for election officials of the Bengaluru Central Lok Sabha constituency here on Tuesday, Girinath said the details of the number of voters in each booth will be made available to BLOs and based on that, the latter should go door-to-door and encourage people to vote. Further, he said the city has witnessed lower voter turnout in the past and several events will be organised to inspire citizens to exercise their franchise. “The BLOs should create awareness in the people about the importance of voting and request them to vote without fail,” the DEO added.
