A day before Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s rally in the city, the Congress launched a blistering attack on the NDA government for allegedly spreading a pack of lies on releasing funds to the Congress-governed Karnataka.
At a joint press conference here on Saturday, KPCC working president Dinesh Gundu Rao and Agriculture Minister Krishna Byre Gowda said, the “lies and jumlas” of the BJP were well known on releasing the State’s share of funds from the Centre.
Of the around ₹95,000 crore Central allocation that was due to the State in the last three years, the State was yet to get ₹10,553 crore, Mr. Krishna Byre Gowda said. The Centre should come clean on the quantum of funds released to the State, he added.
The total money allotted under 13th finance commission for Karnataka was ₹62,775 crore, but ₹61,692 crore was released during 2010–15. The State’s per capita contribution to Central taxes was 19%, but per capita devolution was a mere 6.3%, they claimed.
The Central government runs on the revenue of the States, and not the other way around. It is our right, they said. BJP president Amit Shah spoke as if the Centre has been gifting funds to Karnataka. It is not some gift or alms, but the State’s right and entitlement under the Constitution. States are expected to collect tax and send it to the common pool which is then devolved to States based on the recommendations from the relevant finance commission of that period, they said.
