Bengaluru: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah set the tongues wagging Monday with his remark that no one from Karnataka will become the prime minister if the Congress-led INDIA bloc comes to power at the Centre while ruling himself out of the race for the top job.
What added to the curiosity is that the statement — made at a media event at the Bengaluru Press Club to mark the first year of the Siddaramaiah government — was construed as ruling out the Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge’s possible candidature, if the INDIA bloc comes to power.
“We have successfully implemented all five guarantees. And that has been called the Karnataka model. So there is no one who will become the PM from Karnataka. We will make a common minimum programme there. Who will be made the PM? …we will come to power is the confidence we have, after that the parties from INDIA will decide who will become the PM,” he said to a specific question that Narendra Modi became the PM after pushing the success of the ‘Gujarat Model’ and if it was possible for him to tread the same path.
The CMO later deleted that comment from its official release on the media interaction.
Siddaramaiah said that the guarantees implemented in Karnataka were paving the way for a revival of the Congress-led INDIA bloc to unseat Modi on 4 June.
He said that since taking over in May last year and implementing the guarantee schemes since July, it has cost the exchequer Rs 36,000 crore. However, in the upcoming fiscal, the bill to fulfill the guarantees will cost Rs 52,000 crore, raising doubts on if there is any more money left for other development projects.
“There was no major negative development against this government but that itself is not an achievement. But for any government to have delivered any promise in the first year, is an achievement,” A.Narayana, a Bengaluru-based political analyst and faculty at Azim Premji University, told ThePrint.
He added that with the guarantees, the Congress party was able to create a new constituency of supporters to “arrest the erosion” of its support base.
‘Not a pauper government’
The CM accused the Centre of cutting the share in central taxes as the main reason for going in for more borrowings to implement the guarantees.
Siddaramaiah said that in the Shakthi scheme for women, over 201 crore rides amounting to Rs 4,857.95 crore were logged in since its implementation. Under the Anna Bhagya, the government paid Rs 5,754.6 crore as part of the 5 additional kilograms of rice per family at Rs 34 per kg.
He said that in the Gruha Jyothi (200 units free power), there were 1.67 crore beneficiaries for which Rs 7,436 crore was allocated to fund this scheme. Under Gruha Lakshmi (Rs 2,000 for woman head of household), Rs 20,293.49 crore were disbursed to 1.2 crore beneficiaries, so far.
Over 1.53 lakh youngsters had registered under the Yuva Nidhi (financial assistance for graduate job seekers) but 29,587 beneficiaries were given sums of Rs 1,500-Rs 3,000 through direct bank transfer (DBT).
“We had said in the budget that we would spend Rs 54,374 crore for development works other than guarantees. But we spent Rs 56,274 crore in capital expenditure,” the CM said, adding that the government had already spent Rs 18,198 crore in irrigation as against budget estimates of Rs 16,360 crore and Rs 9,661 crore for PWD.
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‘Can a pauper govt spend this amount of money?’
“(B.Y) Vijayendra, R. Ashoka doesn’t understand economics. That is why they are lying that the treasury is empty,” Siddaramaiah told reporters Monday.
The BJP and its ally Janata Dal (Secular), or JD(S), have accused the state government of diverting funds to bankroll the guarantees and also that the Congress would stop the schemes after the Lok Sabha elections.
“(There is) no question of stopping any guarantee schemes. Nothing will be stopped,” the CM said.
Having contained the breakout of dissent from within the government, the Siddaramaiah-led Congress has been able to showcase the guarantee schemes as a success and indicative of a stable administration.
The BJP and the JD(S) have tried to corner the Congress government over non-performance in the last one year.
“The CM held a meeting and attacked officials. But what about the people’s works? Has there been any development work? They have only spoken about the guarantees and ignored all other development work,” JD(S) state president H.D.Kumaraswamy told reporters.
Leader of the Opposition R. Ashoka also slammed the Congress government over the law and order situation in Karnataka.
“The CM has thanked the state for completing a year. Has he thanked for the murders in the state or the murderers or is it because the government has completed its term. We haven’t understood this,” the BJP leader said, referring to the killings of three women including two in Hubbali.
In the run up to the 2023 Karnataka election, the Congress managed to cement the narrative of ‘40% commission’ against the BJP government. The erstwhile BJP governments under B.S.Yediyurappa and Basavaraj Bommai were accused to have indulged in widespread corruption — factors that are likely to have contributed to having lost power last year.
Now, the contractor’s association have leveled similar allegations of commissions against the Siddaramaiah government following which a forum was set-up where such grievances could be reported or even addressed.
Political analyst Narayana says that the Bommai government only denied these allegations whereas the Congress has set up a forum to report them. He, however, says that the effectiveness with which such allegations are dealt with remains to be seen
On Monday, Siddaramaiah conceded that corruption still persists in the government. “I won’t say that corruption has been wiped out. It is a disease that has stuck to society. But I will make an honest attempt to end it,” he said.
As for the litany of its charges, the BJP have accused the Siddaramaiah government of pursuing ‘appeasement’ — be it the decision to tax high-earning temples, or accusations of “emboldening” minorities to commit serious offenses like Rameshwaram Cafe blast.
Through the Pakistan Zindabad controversy or the Hanuman Chalisa campaign, the BJP has been relentless in trying to corner Siddaramaiah who they often call “anti-Hindu”. A ‘Ram bhakt’ by his own admission, Siddaramaiah continues to face charges of cosying up to Muslims when it comes to reservation and other public welfare measures.
Commenting on the scenario, Narayana observed that the government has been unable to contain the menace of moral policing in the coastal districts and that the party’s messaging on its achievements remains ineffective still.
(Edited by Tony Rai)
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