From Our Special Correspondent
Daijiworld Media Network
Bengaluru, Feb 17: With assembly elections due in the next 2 months, the State Budget presented by Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai in the assembly on Friday for the financial year 2023-24 is “nothing but BJP’s Exit Budget,’’ remarked Congress leader Siddaramaiah. The KPCC chief D K Shivakumar termed the budget promises as “mirage’’ and a “pack of lies.’’
Siddaramaiah, Shivakumar and other Congress members attended the assembly session by wearing flowers on their ears suggesting that the budget is meaningless.
In his reaction to the budget proposals, the former Congress chief minister with a record to presenting the highest number of 13 budgets in the State said Bommai’s budget is meaningless when it had not implemented 90% of the 600 promises made by BJP in 2018. Of the 206 new programmes announced in last year’s budget, nothing has been done in respect of 56. ``So what is the point of this budget,’’ he asked.
Siddaramaiah said the size of the annual budget is an impressive Rs 3.09,182 crore and the Chief Minister claims that the total debt burden at the end of the year would be a massive Rs 5.64,806 crore. The annual debt burden has shot up by Rs 3.22 lac crore and the BJP’s three year rule has resulted in increasing the debt burden by Rs 2,54,760 crore.
The Congress leader said the Bommai government can make any number of promises involving huge outlays when the chief minister knows fully well that his BJP will not return to power and therefore, he can happily go on making grandiose promises. This government is totally irresponsible and has no accountability to anybody, especially the people, he said.
Siddaramaiah said Karnataka is contributing Rs 4.75 lac crore in the form of various taxes and cesses to the Centre but the State gets a pittance of Rs 34,506 crore as per the budget figures. The budget says the central devolution will be Rs 37,250 crore next year. The total share of funds from the Centre in all forms will be hardly Rs 50,257 crore against the State’s contribution of Rs 4.75 lac crore. ``This is the gift to the people from the BJP double engine rule,’’ he said.
The former chief minister attacked the chief minister for complimenting Prime Minister Narendra Modi for distributing 52,000 hakku patras to Lambani people. But the Lambani tandas, hattis and other dwelling places were converted into revenue villages by the Congress and now they want to give credit to Modi for what was done by the Congress government.
He said waiver of farm loans would not help the country according to BJP MP Tejasavi Surya. “But his leader Modi has written off loans of over Rs 12 lac crore from big capitalists. Are these people helping the country? BJP former chief minister B S Yediyurappa had said that his government does not have note printing machines to waive farm loans,” he said and pointed out that people know what are the priorities of BJP.
Budget is pack of lies, mirage, says DKS
The KPCC Chief D K Shivakumar termed the budget as a “mirage’’ and “a pack of lies.’’ It is like cheap colour spectacles sold in village fairs, which cannot be used to see anything.
Shivakumar said the BJP has miserably failed in the last four years it was in power and has not implemented almost all its promises. The budget does not help farmers, youth, workers, traders or any section of society. There are no programmes for tackling price rise, unemployment and rural poverty, he said.
The BJP double engine rule has completely failed, Shivakumar said and pointed out that BJP has come out with a promise of Rs 500 per month to women belonging to BPL families as against Congress party’s promise to pay Rs 2,000 each per month to all housewives and against Congress promise of 200 units of free power to all domestic users, the Bommai government promises 75 units of free power to below poverty line SC/ST households.
“It is for the people to judge and decide,’’ he said.
Shivakumar said Bommai proposal to construct a Ram Mandir at Ramadevarabetta in Ramanagara district is an election stunt. “There is a Ram Mandir in Ramanagara. Kengal Hanumanthaiah had already built a temple for Anjaneya, who is a staunch devotee of Lord Ram,’’ he said referring to Higher Education Minister Minister Dr C N Ashwath Narayan, who had first mooted the proposal of building the Ram Mandir.
“This great man (Ashwath), who had challenged the manhood of his opponents, had promised to sweep and clean Ramanagara. What has he done? Has he stopped corruption or 40% commission? He had the audacity to publicly threaten to finish off our leader Siddaramaiah. We know what is happening in Skills Development Department,” he said and asked the BJP leaders to first construct a party office in Ramanagara.