Due to failure of the State government on all fronts and an anti-incumbency wave prevailing all over the State, the ruling Congress would suffer a severe setback in the ensuing gram panchayat elections, Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly Jagadish Shettar, has said.
“The achievement of the Congress government, in the last two years, is a ‘big zero’. It is a non-performing and inefficient government. Law and order has collapsed. None of the ministerial colleagues of Mr. Siddaramaiah are working. Even Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, as the Finance Minister, has failed in delivering the goods. As such people are angry and would teach the Congress a lesson in the gram panchayat polls,” Mr. Shettar told presspersons on Thursday.
He accused the Congress of indulging in false propaganda of the amendments to Land Acquisition Act proposed by the NDA-led Union government. “The amendments proposed are not anti-farmer as being projected by the Congress but, if implemented, would benefit the farmers and help development. The Congress is not ready for a debate on the issue and is carrying out systematic misinformation campaign against it,” he alleged.
Mr. Shettar pooh-poohed the claims of the Congress government about its achievements and said that he would challenge them with facts and figures. According to him the Congress has only tried to present a ‘rosy’ picture while the achievements were less than 20 percent.
He also criticised the Congress for reduced allocation and meagre spending of funds allocated for the development of the backward Hyderabad-Karnataka region.
Referring to the reported statement of Chief Minister Siddramaiah that around 23 percent of the population in the State was poor, Mr. Shettar held the Congress responsible for it. “Congress has ruled the country and the State for decades with top priority on poverty alleviation but has failed to announce the schemes to achieve the goal and generate employment,” he said.
Mr. Shettar, taking exception to the State government proposing several places along with Raichur for establishment of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), said Raichur was proposed by him during his tenure as the Chief Minister as per the recommendation of Dr. Nanjundappa Committee.
