Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah admitted that the five guarantees implemented by his government were causing a burden on the state exchequer, but made it clear that the initiatives would not stop and go on for five years. His statement came amid a row over Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge advising his party's state units to make only those promises that are "fiscally doable" in comments that were seen as towards Congress-ruled states, including Karnataka.
"In our 2024-25 budget, we earmarked 1.20 crore for development works. Out of that, Rs 56,000 crore has been allocated for the guarantees and more than Rs 60,000 crore for development works. Naturally, it will be a burden on the state exchequer. But, we are managing without stopping the development works, and we are meeting all expenditures," .
"(PM) Narendra Modi ji himself made a statement in Rajasthan that if these guarantees are implemented, Karnataka government will become bankrupt and there will be no money for development works. That is what he said. We came to power in May 2023 and we have implemented all the guarantee schemes in full," he said.
Asked about Kharge's remark on poll sops, Siddaramaiah claimed that his statement was misconstrued.
He also rejected BJP's allegations that the governments in Congress-ruled Himachal Pradesh and Telangana were unable to pay salaries to government officials due to the implementation of welfare schemes.
"Revanth Reddy (Telangana Chief Minister), Sukhvinder Sukhu (Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister) and DK Shivakumar (Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister) had addressed the media and clarified that no development works have been stopped. Their governments have given salaries to their officials," Siddaramaiah said.
KARNATAKA WAQF ROW
Siddaramaiah delved into the controversy of Karnataka farmers and private owners whose lands were allegedly being marked as Waqf properties and said if the mutation processes (change of ownership) were done without an inquiry, they would be abolished.
"There is encroachment of about 1 lakh 12,000 acres of Waqf land. In 2014, the BJP mentioned in its manifesto that the encroachment of Waqf land would be taken up with the religious leaders and those who encroached on Waqf land would be evicted. Why are these people making such an allegation?
He said his government took a decision to withdraw notices to various farmers about alleged encroachment of land by the Waqf board. "No farmer will be evicted. If the mutation processes have not been done without enquiry, they will be abolished," he said.
MUDA LAND 'SCAM'
Speaking about the Muda land 'scam', Siddaramaiah said there was no pressure from the High Command to resign and called the case "false".
The Muda case involves allegations of corruption against Siddaramaiah. It is claimed that his wife, Parvathy, was allotted 14 sites in a prime Mysuru location with a significantly higher property value than the land acquired by Muda.
"What is my role in this issue? The 14 sites were denotified lands and Muda utilised it illegally. They are compensatory sites. Muda did not give sites to my wife. According to me, there is no money laundering.
Resisting calls to resign by the BJP, a defiant Siddaramaiah said the Congress were behind him.
ROW OVER USING EXCISE MONEY TO FUND CONGRESS'S MAHARASHTRA CAMPAIGN
Responding to PM Modi's charge that the Congress was collecting Rs 700 crore from liquor shop owners to fund the Congress's election campaign in Maharashtra, Siddaramaiah challenged the Prime Minister to back his allegation with proof and demanded his resignation if he could not do so.
"We have not committed any bribery. We have not asked for a single pie from Maharashtra Congress. Our government has not collected a single rupee from the excise department. I am challenging PM Modi if he fails to produce any documents. I will resign. Yesterday, I had said if PM Modi fails to prove his claim, I will retire from active politics," he said.
"The high command never asked us to give money. Where is the question of sending money to Maharashtra?" he asked.
