The clear indication by the Congress government that it is in no mood to blindly commit itself to implementing all the flagship programmes that had been either announced or commenced during the previous dispensation has ruffled the feathers of the Bharatiya Janata Party.
Soon after being sworn in as Chief Minister, Siddaramaiah hinted that there will not be any blanket commitment to implementing all the schemes of the BJP government. If this was enough to anger the BJP, several new Ministers have declared that they will be selective in continuing the BJP’s welfare measures under their departments.
Some of the schemes and decisions, which were hurriedly announced by the BJP government just before the elections, including the formation of 43 new taluks, are among those whose fate is uncertain. What has irritated the BJP is the fact that the Ministers have issued statements saying some of these schemes will be discontinued after it (BJP) warned the Chief Minister against such efforts.
However, the BJP has decided to wait till the presentation of the budget by Mr. Siddaramaiah in July to launch a protest against the efforts to shun its flagship programmes. “We will get a clear picture about the programmes likely to be shunned after the presentation of the budget. Hence, we will wait till such time,” sources in the BJP said.
Though the BJP leaders have been critical in their public statements against efforts to shun their flagship programmes, the party actually wants to give time, at least two months, to the new dispensation before launching its protest as the party feels that it may not be appropriate for it to get into an aggressive mood against the government so soon, especially after the manner in which it was voted out of power in the Assembly elections.
“We will launch a campaign after the budget against the efforts to shun our welfare measures as it is the question of protecting our political influence and political constituency,” the BJP sources said.