From Our Special Correspondent

Daijiworld Media Network

Bengaluru, Mar 8: After the fracas over the Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Minister K S Eshwarappa’s controversial statement over hoisting saffron flag at Red Fort during the last session, the ruling BJP and opposition Congress members had a big face-off and arguments over Garibi Hatao.

The Opposition Congress and ruling BJP members entered into a heated arguments over removal poverty the country as Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai attacked Congress members saying the "Garibi Hatao" slogan coined by former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in the early 1970s remained only a slogan.

The number of people under poverty increased during Congress rule, Bommai said.

Intervening during the debate on the State budget for 2022-23, Bommai said policy paralysis and scams that occurred during the UPA regime headed by the then prime minister Manmohan Singh and the decisions to privatise Navaratnas and other government assets caused misery among the people.

The Garibi Hatao slogan remained only on the paper and the impoverishment increased many-fold during several decades of Congress rule, the Chief Minister said.

Ministers C C Patil and Dr K Sudhakar too asked the leader of the opposition Siddaramaiah to remember his speeches against the Congress when he was in the Janata Dal.

Members of both ruling BJP and opposition Congress indulged in allegations and counter allegations on the performance of the past central government.

Earlier, Siddaramaiah blamed the Centre for reducing State's share in the central pool of taxes despite Karnataka’s highest contribution.

“Prime Minister Narendra Modi's slogan ‘Sabka Saath-Sabka Vikas-Sabka Vishwas-Sabka Prayas" has not been practiced,” Siddaramaiah said and termed the State budget as anti-poor since it had cut down all the development expenditures when compared to the previous years.

The Congress leader said the size of his last budget, which was presented in February 2018, was Rs 2.02 lakh crore while the Bommai government's budget size was Rs 2.65 crore. “Is that a yardstick of progress during the last four years,’’ he asked.
Siddaramaiah said despite increase in the budget size, the development expenditure to various sectors had not increased.

Reduction in the central allocation for centrally sponsored schemes, cut in grant-in-aid and cuts in devolution of funds under the 15th Finance Commission were major factors for cut in expenditure and increase in the debt burden on the government, he said.

The Chief Minister countered the Congress policies and said the Modi government has corrected the course of the Indian economy which was left in shambles by the Manmohan Singh government when it was out of power in 2014.

When Siddaramaiah flayed the Vajpayee government's India Shining campaign, Bommai said the country has good national highways largely owing to late Vajpayee's vision.