Daijiworld Media Network – Bengaluru (DC)

Bengaluru, Jul 5: Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy on Thursday after presenting his maiden budget slammed critics and said that the overall development of the state is his government's motto.

Addressing media persons here on July 5, Kumaraswamy said, "What petrol hike is the BJP talking about? Karnataka has one of the lowest petrol rates in India. Even diesel is cheaper than in Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra. After BJP came to power at the centre under Prime Minister Modi, they increased petrol prices several times. BJP MLAs need to protest in Delhi, not here. We had to increase the petrol price to waive farmer loans. Even Jagadish Shettar had increased VAT when he was chief minister of the BJP government in Karnataka."

"BJP people have no idea what they are talking about. They say the budget is limited to Hassan, but let me remind them, Revanna is not the MLA of Hassan. The MLA of Hassan is from BJP. They are asking about what has been allotted to coastal and north Karnataka regions. As said before, we will continue the schemes initiated by the previous Siddaramaiah government in coastal region and others parts of Karnataka. We are also determined to complete all the irrigation projects pending in the state."

HDK also denied allegations that nothing was announced to fix Bengaluru roads, gives a list of allocations for various areas of Bengaluru. "We have allocated Rs 15,825 crore for Bengaluru roads over the course of next four years."

"We have not put any burden on the state economy by announcing farm loan waiver. We presented our first budget as coalition government. No one needs to feel disappointed. We had said we would continue all the schemes announced by the previous government on February 16 this year. I did not repeat them while presenting the budget today as it would have taken over 6 hours. The allocation for minorities and other communities will continue as announced by the previous government, so there is no reason for anyone to feel disappointed," he added.

“Coalition government is committed for the overall development of the state. Coalition government has not neglected the coastal region. State government has not received a single paisa from the Centre. Can I and Dr G Parameshwara print money to accommodate all the promises? People's approval is more important to us,” he said.