In an oblique reference to the guarantee schemes of the Congress government, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar on April 15 accused the Congress government in Karnataka of indulging in “competitive populism”
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“Taking to competitive populism is when you make promises despite knowing that you cannot deliver them,” Mr. Jaishankar told media persons in Bengaluru. “This is exactly what we are seeing in Karnataka at the State government level,” he maintained.
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Replying to a query, he described competitive populism as “irresponsible promises made by some State governments” and said: “Do not confuse this with the welfare programmes taken up by the Centre.
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Going further into the subject, he said: “The Centre is giving five kg of rice to poor. This is not populism as this is part of basic obligations.”
Similarly, he said: “We have in the last 10 years built four crore houses for 20 crore people. Given piped water supply under Jal Jivan mission to 14 crore people. But this is not populism as piped water supply and shelter are the basic rights of people.”
Coming down heavily on the Congress government in Karnataka with respect to its allegations of the Centre ignoring its plea for drought relief, Mr. Jaishankar accused it of misrepresenting its duties and that of the Centre.
“The primary responsibility of handling drought is with the State government. It should not shift the responsibility on Centre. It should not misrepresent what is the duty of the State and duty of the Centre. But now we are seeing misrepresentation by the State,” Mr. Jaishankar said.
“The responsibility for drought relief is with the State Drought Relief Fund. There is a central component and it was already given. Over and above such a relief, the NDRF can consider giving additional resources after evaluating circumstances. At this time, the NDRF has made its decision not only about Karnataka, but some other states also. It is waiting for the approval of Election Commission as we are in the middle of elections,” Mr. Jaishankar explained.