DAVANGERE: Responding to BJP’s claims that the AHINDA (Kannada acronym for...) will shift to the party, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Thursday remarked that the saffron party does not genuinely care about AHINDA communities, and in fact, it has prioritised the interests of the affluent.
Interacting with reporters in Davanagere after campaigning for Congress Davanagere South candidate Samarth Shamanur ahead of the April 9 bypolls, Siddaramaiah expressed confidence in the party winning the bypolls to Davanagere South and Bagalkot Assembly constituencies.
“The support we see for the Congress is overwhelming. We will win the bypolls,” he told reporters in Davanagere.
He said voters have realised that the BJP-led government at the Centre was not developing the country and the state and this realisation has turned into a boon for the Congress.
“The support our candidate, Samarth Shamanur, is receiving in the Davangere South Assembly constituency is far more than anticipated. Voters have clearly understood that the BJP has merely looted the state during the past four years without bringing progress,” the CM said.
He further said that the guarantee schemes of his government are being implemented effectively. Despite the barrage of lies and misleading propaganda by the BJP, the people have chosen to place their trust in Congress’ assurances, Siddaramaiah added.
“The claim that guarantees will be discontinued is repeatedly being invoked in every bypoll, yet people know that such assertions are misleading, as our guarantees have continued uninterruptedly,” he said, adding that Rs 52,000 crore has been earmarked for the effective implementation of these guarantees, and Rs 1,31,000 crore has been spent so far.
‘No support from Centre’
Responding to criticism that he is a debt-ridden Ramaiah (Salada Ramaiah), CM Siddaramaiah said that any State Government should borrow only within permissible limits.
He argued that, under the Financial Responsibility Act, Karnataka’s Gross Domestic Product is stronger than that of the Centre. The overall debt remains within the stipulated limit of 25%, and the state’s fiscal deficit stands at 2.95 percent, he claimed.
He pointed out that the state could not achieve a revenue surplus because the Centre has failed to devolve its grants to the state. He said, in connection with the Bihar elections, the GST rate was reduced, causing the Karnataka exchequer to lose Rs 10,000 crore. Moreover, he claimed that GST growth, which stood at 10% prior to the GST cut, has now fallen to 4%.
He further alleged that the Centre has not released Karnataka’s GST compensation and special grants. He said that state BJP president Vijayendra’s demand for a white paper on the financial condition, made without examining the full picture, amounts to baseless and unfounded statements.
Replying to Haveri MP and former CM Basavaraj Bommai’s demand for proper documentation regarding the state’s debt, he said that all relevant records concerning the economic situation have been clearly laid out in the budget. He informed that Rs 5,30,000 crore in loans were taken during the BJP’s tenure, while the remaining amount pertains to the present government.
Regarding non-payment of dues to contractors, he said that during the BJP’s tenure, contractors’ outstanding bills was Rs 29,000 crore, and of this, Rs 24,000 crore worth of bills have already been paid.
On his government’s preparedness for price escalation amid the ongoing West Asia crisis, he said that the responsibility for controlling inflation primarily rests with the Centre. He added that it is the responsibility of the State Government to distribute the gas, petrol, and diesel supplied by the Centre, and he claimed that petroleum prices in Karnataka are lower than those in neighbouring states.
On the government’s stand regarding the implementation of internal reservation, he said the administration is committed to bringing internal reservation into effect across the state. He said the Congress government follows the principle of Universal Basic Income and continues to extend benefits to the underprivileged.