From Our Special Correspondent
Daijiworld Media Network

Hubballi, Jan 19: Every time Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah visits Karnataka, Kannadigas are the losers and this time the University Grants Commission office in Bengaluru is being shifted to Delhi even as Modi is visiting the State, attacked Congress opposition leader Siddaramaiah in Bengaluru on Thursday.

In a statement released to the media, the former Chief Minister said the BJP-led Union Government has shifted the UGC office from Bengaluru to Delhi forcing the college students, lecturers and staff of universities in the State as well those from the colleges and post-graduate centres to run to Delhi even from minor issues and this is snatching the rights of Kannadigas and subjecting the people to hardships.

“This is the gift from Modi-Shah from BJP’s double-engine rule,’’ Siddaramaiah said.

The Congress leader lashed out at Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai and Higher Education Minister Dr C N Ashwath Narayan for not even registering a ‘feeble protest’ against the shifting of UGC office from Bengaluru.

“This is the contribution and gift from the two stalwarts from Gujarat and it is disgusting that nobody in the BJP government has the courage to speak out at this injustice,’’ he said.

He said the five leading nationalised banks from Karnataka have lost their identity under Modi rule. Nobody is bothered when nationalised banks like State Bank of Mysore, Canara Bank, Corporation Bank, Vijaya Bank or Syndicate Bank cease to maintain their identity. All these banks are now filled with people from north India and the CRPF Batallion allotted to Karnataka has gone to Uttar Pradesh, which is a contribution of Modi-Shah, he said.

The Congress leader said Kannada is also a classical language like Tamil but is not getting even a quarter of the allocations given to Tamil. Is this Modi’s gift to Kannada and Kannadigas, he asked.

Siddaramaiah said both Modi and Shah realise that there is a state called Karnataka only when elections are due and they want to ‘loot the wealth of Karnataka and subject Kannadigas to injustice’.

The Congress leader said farmers in the State are suffering as arecanut, coconut, sugarcane, pepper, coffee, paddy crops are not getting remunerative prices in sharp contrast to the grandiose promise of doubling the income of farmers. The toor dal growers are in trouble due to pest attack and the Bommai government is least bothered, he said pointing out over 30,000 cattle have died due to skin disease and Karnataka’s milk production has slumped by18 lakh litres resulting in Rs 6.6 crore loss to farmers.

The coffee farmers are in dire straits due to crop losses and forced to commit suicides. Over 1 lakh hectares of cultivation has suffered during floods and during the last three years over 2.5 lakh acres of crops have been damaged and another 2.5 lakh houses have been destroyed. But the BJP government has failed to provide adequate compensation, he said attacking Modi or Shah for their failure to visit the State when it was drowning due to heavy deluge.

The former Chief Minister said Karnataka is contributing Rs 3.5 lakh crore as taxes but the grant to the State is barely Rs 29,000 crore. The State is losing revenue not only in grants but in devolution of funds or centrally sponsored projects and combined money on account of these is not even Rs 50,000 crore

“When the tax contribution from the State was Rs 2.5 lakh crore, the grants was over Rs 72,000 crore. Under the formula of sharing revenue in the ratio of 42%, Karnataka should have got Rs 1.47 lakh crore by the Modi regime. But Karnataka is losing Rs 1.17 crore. Is the double engine government’s contribution,’’ he asked.

Siddaramaiah said the ruling BJP and Modi are so shameless that they are inaugurating the Narayanapur Dam Left Bank Canal modernisation when the project was approved and executed under Congress rule and Congress leader M B Patil was the Water Resources Minister.

The Congress leader reminded the BJP leaders that they had vehemently opposed the grant of title deeds to Banjaras and Lambani tandas and giving them the revenue village status. Now, they are getting Prime Minister to distribute title deeds and inaugurate the Narayanapur dam project, when all the work was done by Congress. “BJP is shamelessly claiming credit for the work done by Congress and bringing Modi to hog the limelight,’’ he said.