From Our Special Correspondent
Daijiworld Media Network
Bengaluru, Sep 24: Former chief minister from JD(S), H D Kumaraswamy on Sunday attacked the Siddaramaiah regime for its emphasis on revenue mobilization from the Excise Department to fund the ruling Congress party’s 5 pre-poll Guarantees and claimed that "liquor bhagya" (Madya Bhagya) will be Guarantee Number 6 from the government.
Kumaraswamy, who is back from Delhi on Saturday after formally making his JD(S) part of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA), assailed the government and said the Congress government will transform Karnataka from being the "Garden of Peace’’ (Shantiya Thota) into a ‘’Garden of Drunkards’’ (Kudukara Thota).
The JD(S) leader lashed out at the government’s reported moves to open liquor shops even in villages with a population of 3,000 and allow the sale of liquor in Super Markets to mobilize more excise revenue.
Taking a swipe at the Congress government’s more popular "Shakti" Guarantee of providing free travel to women on all government buses as part of its drive to boost "Nari Shakti," Kumaraswamy said the government is out to destroy the "Gruhalakshmi" and "Gruha Jyothi" by destroying families and thereby destroying the future of women. "From its Guarantee of Anna Bhagya, it will now become Madya Bhagya,’’ he said.
Karnataka, which is well known as the country’s Knowledge Capital and famous for IT/BT, Science, and Technology, will lose its tag and become the ‘’Garden of Drunkards,’’ Kumaraswamy said on social media.
"Is granting permission for selling liquor in supermarkets, which sell rice, pulses, fruits and vegetables, milk, and curds, the new Socialism?" the JD(S) leader asked and said the liberal licensing policy allowing the sale of liquor by permitting the opening of more liquor shops will destroy the peace in society.