Daijiworld Media Network – Bengaluru (DC)
Bengaluru, Jul 5: B S Yeddyurappa, opposition leader in the assembly slammed Congress-JD(S) coalition government's budget and said that CM H D Kumaraswamy had cheated the farmers.
Speaking to media persons soon after Kumaraswamy presented his maiden budget, Yeddyurappa said, "North Karnataka, Malnad and coastal Karnataka have been completely ignored in the budget. Kumaraswamy has cheated the farmers. This is a budget of younger brother and elder brother. Kumaraswamy has burdened common man by hiking fuel prices,"
"The coalition government should feel ashamed of this budget. It should be ashamed of telling lies to the people. It is a betrayal. Is this why you have been made the chief minister? We will discuss the budget as well as our further course of action on July 12,” he added.
BJP leader R Ashok too lambasted HDK's budget. "There is no mention about fixing the potholes in Bengaluru, and no mention of Kolar and coastal region either. Petrol and power prices have been hiked which will increase the burden on the poor. It is not at all a people-friendly budget. We are going to protest,"
Former CM and BJP leader Jagadish Shettar reacted soon after the budget presentation and said, "Allocation for various important sectors like urban development, irrigation and others have been reduced, instead, there is hike on petrol,"
Earlier, in a big relief to the farm sector, Karnataka Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy on Thursday announced a mega Rs 34,000 crore farm loan waiver scheme in the maiden budget of the Congress-JDS coalition government. With the waiver scheme imposing a huge burden on the exchequer, he also announced proposals to mop up additional resources, including an increase in the rate of tax on petrol by Rs 1.14 per litre and diesel by Rs 1.12 per litre.
He also proposed a hike in the additional excise duty on Indian-made liquor by 4 per cent across the board on all 18 slabs. Kumaraswamy recalled his assurance to waive all types of crop loans of farmers taken for agricultural activities within 24 hours of formation of a full-fledged government.
Meanwhile, Kumaraswamy said that it was a misconception that the budget is limited for Hassan. “All the programmes implemented by former chief minister Siddaramaiah will continue. This budget will benefit all the masses," he said.