The Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday challenged Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to come out with “happiness indices”, similar to that of Bhutan, for oppressed sections if he was confident that his social security measures have helped to improve their living condition.
Participating in a debate on the State budget in the Legislative Assembly, BJP member Basavaraj Bommai said that “merely quoting statistics” on allocations to these sections would not indicate the reality.
Alleging that ₹13,000 crore, from the total budgetary allocation of ₹47,000 crore towards the social sector in the last three years, had remained unspent, Mr. Bommai described this as an “injustice in the name of social justice.”
The BJP also took exception to Mr. Siddaramaiah sporting a “royal attire”, including a turban and a sword, at a programme organised in Bengaluru on Sunday by various Dalit organisations to thank him for the welfare measures.
“We want to remind the Chief Minister that we are in a democratic set-up for which a strong foundation has been laid through the Constitution by Dr. B. R. Ambedkar and that one should not think of going back to the era of monarchy,” Mr. Bommai remarked.
