Daijiworld Media Network – Bengaluru (DC)

Bengaluru, Jul 8: In a letter to Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy, senior Congress leader and former minister H K Patil has urged to set right in his budget by announcing new schemes for religious minorities and north Karnataka before the budget document is approved by the legislature.

In the letter Patil stated that the CM ought to have announced programmes for minorities. In the 2018 Assembly election, minorities were responsible for the victory of secular parties.

“We should have seen in the budget a special package for minorities, especially the poor among them. At least, this can be set right by you announcing some new programmes for minorities during your response in the ongoing budget session," he wrote.

Extending concern for north Karnataka, Patil wrote, "Many new taluks are located in north Karnataka and people expected a special programme for infrastructure creation. Instead, the budget only reiterates what was proposed earlier and there’s nothing new."

Patil has also written to former chief minister Siddaramaiah asking the latter to convene a meeting of the Coordination and Monitoring Committee, which he heads, to discuss the two serious issues of neglecting minorities and regional imbalance.

Patil represents Gadag constituency.