The former CM was addressing the media after meeting with Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot with a delegation to seek his intervention as the government had “failed to release money for farmers” in the drought-riddled state. “The state government had released just Rs 105 crore, which was not even 1% of the relief amount it had sought from the central government,” he said. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, he added, had promised to give farmers a compensation of Rs 2000 per hectare but that amount had not been released yet either under the garb of linking Aadhar number of farmers.
“No development work has started in the state after the Congress Party came to power,” he said. Most other ministers in the state were busy in securing the deputy chief minister post, he added.
After the Congress won the state assembly polls last May, speculations had begun that Siddaramaiah was not going to complete a full term in office and was going to cede his chair to Shivakumar after the upcoming Lok Sabha polls. While the Congress party has not officially said so, the rumours have persisted well past the government’s half-year mark. Recently, there was speculation that the government was planning to add more deputy CMs to its cabinet, although AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge issued a firm denial on Tuesday.
Furthering his attacks on the ruling party, the former CM also slammed the regime’s guarantee program, saying the state might have to impose fresh conditions to continue the guarantees after the parliamentary polls as it was “reeling under economic distress,” and demanded full disclosure of the money available in State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) and Deputy Commissioners’ (DC) accounts. “The benefits of the Gruha Lakshmi have failed to reach women and the Gruha Jyoti and Yuva Nidhi have not benefited the people in any manner. No guarantee scheme had been implemented effectively,” he added
The Congress guarantees – a set of pre-poll promises that pushed the party to victory in assembly polls last May – have drawn severe flak from the Opposition. Siddaramaiah’s economic advisor Basavaraj Rayareddy was reported to have said that looking into how to get funds from the state and centre to fund guarantees – which Bommai used as a further push to back the government in a corner. “Rayaraddi has told the truth, as he is aware how the government is facing the shortage of funds. But the CM is not ready to agree to it,” he said.
