Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday clarified that the central transfers to Karnataka have “increased substantially”. She added that there is a lot of “misinformation” regarding this in the state.
Hitting out at the Siddaramaiah-led state government, Sitharaman said that they “falsely” keep saying that the Centre does not give Karnataka its due.
“The government of today keeps telling people that, oh, the central government doesn't give Karnataka its due. Completely false…I am willing to answer, but it is the wrong advertisement that the current government in Karnataka keeps doing, which I am sorry is not helping anybody, let alone the central government. Even the people of Karnataka are not getting the factual information,” Sitharaman said during a press conference.
Sitharaman drew a parallel between the previous UPA government's funds to Karnataka and the current NDA's dues.
“Between 2004 and 2014, when the UPA government was in power in Delhi, Karnataka received only ₹81,791 crores over ten years. Between 2014 and 24, ten years under PM Modi, Karnataka received ₹2,95,818 crores. Grants in aid ₹60,779 crores under UPA, and in ten years under PM Modi ₹2,39,955 crores,” she said.
Sitharaman's comment comes days after the Congress government in Karnataka expressed dissatisfaction with her budget presentation and said that the southern state had been ignored totally. Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah also boycotted the NITI Aayog meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on July 27, as a mark of protest against the "neglect" of the state’s demands in the Union Budget.
{{/usCountry}}Sitharaman's comment comes days after the Congress government in Karnataka expressed dissatisfaction with her budget presentation and said that the southern state had been ignored totally. Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah also boycotted the NITI Aayog meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on July 27, as a mark of protest against the "neglect" of the state’s demands in the Union Budget.
{{/usCountry}}Meanwhile, Congress leader DK Shivakumar said that he was “massively disappointed” with the ignorance of the union government towards the state.
“We have high respect for the finance minister and expect funds to finish the pending projects in the state. We expected her to protect the interests of the people of Karnataka. We are massively disappointed with the ignorance of the union government towards our state,” he said.
(With inputs from ANI)