Daijiworld Media Network – Udupi (TP)

Udupi, Jul 26: The Udupi district congress staged a protest against the central government for "completely ignoring Karnataka" during the presentation of the budget at Brahmagiri Circle on Friday, July 26.

Vinay Kumar Sorake, KPCC campaign committee chairman, addressed the gathering, saying, "India ranks 111th in poverty. Unemployment is increasing day by day, with 80 percent of graduates unemployed in the country. There are political motives in preparing the budget. To stabilize their power, they gave grants to Andhra Pradesh and Bihar. There are 19 Lok Sabha members and five ministers elected from Karnataka, including Nirmala Sitharaman, the finance minister, but they have done injustice to the Karnataka state."

"Every state must be given 41 percent of the budget, but only 32 percent of the budget is given to states in the 2024-25 union budget. The budget should provide solutions to all the problems in the nation. The BJP will not be able to rule the nation as they did for the last 10 years. During the discussion of the budget, let them have the mind to provide justice to Karnataka state."

Ashok Kumar Kodavuru, president of the district congress, said, "The union budget of 40,000 crores has been presented by the union government, but no grants have been given to Karnataka state. They are running a government of hatred. They gave a 25,000 crore fund for infrastructure development in Bihar, as the election in Bihar is approaching. The Andhra Pradesh government, which supports the BJP, has been given grants, but states which are against the BJP have not been given a single penny."

The protest started from the Udupi district congress office to Brahmagiri Circle after the Udupi district congress committee meeting at the district office.

Kishan Hegde, working president, M A Gafoor, vice president of KPCC, Veronica Cornelio, congress leader, Ramesh Kanchan, president of Udupi block congress, Harish Kini, president of Udupi district congress campaign committee, congress leaders Roshni Olivera, Amruth Shenoy, and others were present at the protest.