Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said here on Sunday that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders in the State should impress upon the Union government to release sufficient drought relief funds for the State instead of trying to politicise the drought issue.
Speaking to presspersons here, Mr. Siddaramaiah said that the Union government was yet to release funds fully for the rabi season. The State had requested the Union government to release ₹ 3,300 crore to mitigate the drought situation during the rabi season. But the Union government had not released any money so far.
Even for the kharif season, the State had sought ₹ 4,700 crore. But the Union government had released only ₹ 1,100 crore. The State had disbursed ₹ 1,100 crore among farmers as input subsidy. The balance amount would also be credited to the farmers accounts shortly. The BJP leaders were simply misleading the people over the drought issue, he said.
Reacting to Janata Dal(S) State president H.D. Kumaraswamy’s allegation that he (Mr. Siddaramaiah) had split the Janata Dal(S), the Chief Minister said that there was no truth in the charge. It was left to the Janata Dal(S) leaders to keep their flock intact rather than making wild allegations, he added. To BJP leader Murulidhar Rao’s charge that his Cabinet had Ministers facing criminal cases, Mr. Siddaramaiah retorted that it was in the history of the BJP and not the Congress. The BJP need not to lecture the Congress on corruption, he added.
Mr. Siddaramaiah said that none of his party leaders are going to leave the Congress and that he is also not making any effort to break other parties to strengthen his party. “There are only 224 Assembly seats in the State. I don’t know how both the BJP and the Janata Dal(S) are claiming that they would win 150 seats each. They are living in illusion. The Congress will win the 2018 elections,” he said.
