Bharatiya Janata Party State president B.S. Yeddyurappa has accused the State government of being mired in corruption. “All the development works have come to a grinding halt in the last five years,” he added.
Compared to the previous BJP government, which raised additional borrowing of ₹ 46,119 crore, the Congress government has raised an unprecedented ₹ 1,33,407 crore in the last five years.
Addressing the gathering during the Navakarnataka Parivartana Yatra in Kalaburagi on Saturday evening, Mr. Yeddyurappa launched a vitriolic attack on Chief Minister Siddramaiah and his government stating they had indulged in corruption. He held the senior Congress leaders of Hyderabad Karnataka region responsible for the backwardness of the area.
Mr. Yeddyurappa came down heavily on Mr. Siddaramaiah for urging the Union government to waive farm loans. In Uttar Pradesh, that State government, not the Centre, waived farm loan. As far as Karnataka goes, the Centre has cooperated in every single area. “Prime Minister Narendra Modi has never treated Karnataka different from other States because it is ruled by the Congress,” he added. Though the government has allocated ₹ 16,390 crore for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes under the Sub Tribal Plan and Special Component Plan in the 2017-18 budget, the amount spent was a mere ₹ 5,640 crore.
He alleged that Mr. Siddaramaiah and Energy Minister D.K. Shivakumar were involved in a mega scam relating to the State-owned Karnataka Power Corporation Limited. He said that KPCL has paid ₹ 447 crore penalty to the Centre for re-allotment of a coal block despite it having no such liability.
The BJP government at the Centre has sanctioned adequate funds for the urban local bodies under various welfare schemes and for upgradation of State Highway into National Highway in the district.
Mr. Yeddyurappa received a loud cheer from the crowd after he exuded the confidence of Dattatreya Patil Revoor, Kalaburagi South MLA, winning the next Assembly elections.
‘Black Paper’
Union Minister Ananth Kumar said that the BJP State unit would release a “Black Paper” on the neglect of Hyderabad Karnataka. Inviting the Congress leaders for an open debate on the development of Hyderabad Karnataka region, he said that even after spending crores of rupees released through the Centre and from the HKRDB, many development projects continue to linger without any direction.
Mr. Ananth Kumar said that the Congress was spreading canards about the BJP that it had tried to stall the amendment to Article 371(J) of the Constitution, but the BJP had extended support for the smooth passage of amendment Bill.
“We did not oppose the amendment, our [BJP] only demand was that the Chief Minister be made the Chairman of HKRDB, instead of the Governor,” he added.
Taking exception to Mr. Siddaramaiah’s remarks on the Parivartana Yatra, Mr. Ananth Kumar said that Mr. Siddaramaiah’s proposed month-long tour, Janashirvada Yatra, would become “his government’s antim yatra”, once the results of Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat Assembly elections are announced
The former Ministers Arvind Limbavali, Revu Naik Belamgi, MLC B.G. Patil and K.B. Shannappa and other party leaders were present.
