MYSURU: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Thursday said the people of Mandya have stood by his leadership for decades, and advised district in-charge minister N Chaluvarayaswamy and others to take members of the AHINDA community and the poor along, since they have supported the Grand Old Party.
Disputing the JDS’ claims that it has contributed to the development of Mandya, Siddaramaiah said it was he who sanctioned a medical college and agriculture university for the district, and also released sufficient funds for the Mysugar factory. Without naming Union minister HD Kumaraswamy, Siddaramaiah said the medical college was sanctioned during the tenure of N Dharam Singh as chief minister.
Speaking after laying the foundation for the DCC bank head office and Kuruba Sangha hostel, and unveiling a statue of Nalwadi Krishnaraja Wadiyar, he said the government gave Rs 50 crore assistance to the Mysugar factory and waived off power bills.
He said the state produced 148 lakh metric tonnes of food grains during the previous years, and received copious rain, despite the BJP-JDS claiming that Karnataka is always affected by drought under Siddaramaiah’s rule.
Hitting out at the BJP for saying that the state would go bankrupt after implementing the guarantee schemes, Siddaramaiah said they have earmarked Rs 1.35 lakh crore for the development works and charged that the BJP is against social sector programmes, and not in favour of farmers, the poor, women, Dalits, minorities, and backward communities.
Lauding the people of Mandya for contributing to food production, he said that the government has spent enough on irrigation projects and developments in all the taluks.
Separately, the chief minister said he has sanctioned Rs 2 crore for the Kuruba community hostel and assured funds to construct facilities for more than a hundred students from the backward communities.