Karnataka CM slams Sitharaman over drought relief funds

CM Siddaramaiah on Sunday accused Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman of “misleading the public” regarding the delayed release of drought relief funds

Chief minister Siddaramaiah on Sunday accused Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman of “misleading the public” regarding the delayed release of drought relief funds.

Siddaramaiah’s allegations came in the backdrop of the remarks made by Sitharaman earlier on Saturday. (AFP)

Siddaramaiah’s allegations came in the backdrop of the remarks made by Sitharaman earlier on Saturday, defending the Centre saying that the procedures to release funds had taken time by which time the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) came into effect.

Explaining the “unintentional delay”, the finance minister had said that the Karnataka government submitted a memorandum in October 2023. “The Inter-Ministerial Central Team then conducted an assessment and sent it to the agriculture ministry in November,” she said.

The agriculture ministry submitted its report to the sub-committee of the National Executive Committee and placed it before the high-level committee. “But on March 28, 2024, a letter has been sent to the Election Commission of India to get approval in context of the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) for convening the HLC meeting and we are awaiting the approval,” she said.

The chief minister on Sunday encountered Sitharaman’s claims, stating that Karnataka had submitted its memorandum for drought relief in December even as he contradicted the Union finance minister’s assertion of an October submission.

“You please give it a thought. Narendra Modi has been Prime Minister for 10 years. Has he done anything for Bengaluru? He didn’t give you drinking water,” Siddaramaiah said, addressing the people during an election campaign for Congress’s Bengaluru North Lok Sabha candidate Professor M V Rajeev Gowda.

During an election campaign rally in Bengaluru North, Siddaramaiah didn’t shy away from criticising the tenure of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, accusing the central government of overlooking critical needs, particularly in Bengaluru. “When we ask for more (share) from our tax money and relief amount for drought mitigation, they lie,” the chief minister said, addressing the people in Dasarahalli.

After listening to Sitharaman’s statement, Karnataka revenue minister Krishna Byre Gowda expressed his readiness for an open discussion and has even kept the stage ready for it, Siddaramaiah said.

“Should Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman attend it or not? She did not turn up. Yesterday she was here in Bengaluru. (She didn’t come) because she has lied, now she cannot tell the truth,” the chief minister added.

“She has spoken one more big lie. When we asked why no relief amount was given for drought relief, she said that the election code of conduct has come in the way...but we had submitted a memorandum for drought relief in September (2023),” Siddaramaiah said.

Amid the exchange of accusations, Siddaramaiah exuded confidence in his government’s stability, dismissing BJP’s assertions of an impending collapse post-election. He said that the electoral performance of the Congress in the previous elections, cured a significant vote share and won a considerable number of seats.

“We won 136 seats, which is 43% of the vote share.The BJP got only 36%. They have only 64 seats. The JDS have 19 MLAs... People have given us five years and our schemes will continue for five years without any hurdle,” he said while talking to reporters.

Slamming the CM for his remarks, the opposition leader R Ashoka, intensified its critique of the state government, alleging “financial mismanagement”. Ashoka expressed confidence in the BJP’s prospects in the upcoming elections, asserting that “only the guarantee provided by Prime Minister Narendra Modi holds weight.”