Karnataka BJP challenges Siddaramaiah to issue White Paper on utilisation of funds given by Centre

Bengaluru, Feb 5 (IANS) The Karnataka BJP on Monday refuted the charges made by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah over alleged discrepancies in the allotment of central funds to the state.

The BJP said the Chief Minister was attempting to conceal his government’s failures.

In a social media post on Monday, the BJP challenged, "Mr. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, do you have the capacity to bring out a White Paper on the utilisation of funds released under the Jal Jeevan Mission, Amrut Yojna, Smart City, PM Awas Yojna, and irrigation projects by the central government?"

"You have no moral right to question this matter as you had taken away the hard-earned money of Kannada people to spend on elections in Telangana, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, and Rajasthan," the BJP alleged.

"Mr. CM Siddaramaiah, you have been pointing fingers at others throughout your lifetime, the non-availability of appropriate information reflects the inefficiency of your government. PM Narendra Modi's Government has given three times more share in tax and allotments to Karnataka than the United Progressive Alliance (UPA).

“During 2004-2014, when the UPA was ruling and amid the coal scam, 2G scam, and Commonwealth scams, the central government was left with only Rs 81,795 crore to be allotted to Karnataka. In comparison, the Congress will never be able to hide the fact that PM Modi's Government had given Rs 2,82,791 crore to Karnataka, which is higher by 245 per cent.

“It is impossible for you to twist the fact that Karnataka state has received a higher amount of funds for development like never before. For a self-proclaimed finance expert like you, it is not difficult to know the amount of money released for specific projects.

“It is enough to know the basics to see that the funds received by the state under PM Modi are more than Rs 2,08,882 crore, whereas during the UPA Government, the state received Rs 60,799 crore.

“In our state, your party from 1947 to 2014 could construct 6,750 kms of roads. PM Modi's Government after 2014 has constructed 13,500 kms of roads. Mr. Siddaramaiah, earlier it took four hours to reach your native place, now you are able to reach in one-and-half hours.

“That road was also constructed by PM Modi's Government. Your government had released Rs 835 crore for Railway projects between 2009 and 2014. PM Modi's Government has released Rs 11,000 crore, and you have to tell how many times more it is?”

The social media post went on to say, “The Congress had laid only 7 kms of the Metro line in Bengaluru. Between 2014 and 2023, 73 kms of Metro track has been laid, which is more than 10 times of what you have done. During the Congress rule of 67 years, seven airports were built in Karnataka. However, after the people sent Congress home in 2014, in Karnataka alone, 14 airports were built by the Modi Government.

“In the last five years, the PM Modi Government has released Rs 30,000 crore for national highways in the state. Rs 10,990 crore have been disbursed directly to the farmers of Karnataka under the Kisan Samman scheme. More than 62 lakh people from Karnataka are beneficiaries of Ayushman Bharat Yojna. Mr. Chief Minister, you should also know that the first IIT in Karnataka was established by PM Modi's Government.”

Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah on Monday said the proposed protests of Karnataka Congress in New Delhi on February 7 is against the step-motherly treatment meted out to the state by the Central government. The Congress has asked all its ministers, MLAs and MLCs from across the state to attend the proposed protest.

He said that till date, Karnataka has not released its judicious share of Rs 1.87 lakh crore by the Central government. The Chief Minister said that the tax collections in Karnataka amount Rs 4.30 lakh crore.

“We are number two after Maharashtra in terms of tax collection in the country. This year we got Rs 50,257 crore out of taxes. Out of Rs 100 collected from Karnataka, we are only getting Rs 12 to Rs 13 back,” the Chief Minister said.

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