BENGALURU: All-India Congress Committee (AICC) General Secretary and Karnataka in-charge of party affairs, Randeep Singh Surjewala, on Sunday, accused the Union Government of not increasing domestic gas production in the country.
He further accused the Centre of not supplying adequate LPG to Karnataka, thereby creating trouble on the ground for autorickshaw drivers, housewives, restaurants, and businesses.
“Nationally also, the myopic and lopsided policies of the BJP, besides the West Asia war, have led to this crisis. The PM and his petroleum minister and Union Minister HD Kumaraswamy, since he is aspiring to be the petroleum minister nowadays, should answer— Why do you have reserves only for seven days? Why did we not use the 11-year positive window when everything was hunky-dory to create our capacities and to ramp up our capacities?” Surjewala asked.
Surjewala accused the Centre of stalling irrigation projects in Karnataka, such as the Upper Bhadra Project. “The deliberate silence of Karnataka BJP to the step-motherly treatment by the Modi government of the rights and interests of Kannadigas cannot remain unpunished. The BJP has betrayed Karnataka, and they do not deserve your vote,” he said.
He questioned Union Minister HD Kumaraswamy, as he had claimed that he would get clearances within five hours of assuming office. “The BJP-TDP government in Andhra Pradesh has challenged the Upper Bhadra project in the Supreme Court, while the Karnataka BJP Leaders maintain a conspiratorial silence. This project is crucial for the farmers of Davanagere, Chitradurga, Tumakuru, and Chikkamagaluru,” he said, adding that the Centre has even stalled the Kalasa-Banduri project.
Slams Joshi on EV policy
Replying to Union Minister Pralhad Joshi’s reported statement that Karnataka was withdrawing tax exemptions on Electric Vehicles (EVs), Surjewala hit back, alleging that the Centre was trying to completely finish off EVs.
“The EV policy was originally amended in the Union Budget by the Centre when they withdrew most of the EV benefits ...because the BJP government is trying to push the E20 petrol for which our vehicles are not ready,” he said.