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Govt discriminating in fund allocation for city development: Congress in Karnataka
Reddy sought to know how the city will develop if this attitude continued from the Basavaraj Bommai-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government.“If this is the case, what hope is there that the city will develop overall?” she added.
The state Congress unit on Sunday alleged discrimination in allocations of funds for development of Bengaluru on the basis of party affiliations.
“ ₹9,880.15 crore released for 15 @BJP4Karnataka MLAs as against ₹2,186.48 crore for 12@INCKarnataka MLAs. It is evident that the #BJP indulges in political partisanship by allocating tax payer money to its party MLAs at the highest level,” Congress legislator from Jayanagar, Sowmya Reddy, said in a Twitter post on Sunday.
Reddy sought to know how the city will develop if this attitude continued from the Basavaraj Bommai-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government.“If this is the case, what hope is there that the city will develop overall?” she added.
The statements come at a time when Bommai has been trying to set aside more funds for the development of Bengaluru, which houses at least 12 million of the over 70 million population of the state.The Congress has alleged that the BJP has been granting funds only to its own legislators in the city.
“When Siddaramaiah was in power, they (Congress government) gave us zero funds and gave themselves ₹300 to 400 crore in 2016. Our constituencies are all on the outskirts of Bengaluru and are now expanding and developing,” said BJP legislator from Bommanahalli and the chief whip of the BJP in the lower house of the state legislature Satish Reddy.
The Congress had on Saturday released a list of grants by the BJP government, which if true, indicates a glaring discrimination in fund allocation for the development, based on political ideologies.
There are 28 constituencies in Bengaluru, of which the BJP has 15, the Congress has 12 and the Janata Dal (Secular) or JD(S) has one.
According to the details released by Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) working president Ramalinga Reddy, the BJP government has released a total of ₹6116.74 crore since it came to power in 2019. In 2021-22, the BJP released ₹2,658 crore for these 16 constituencies and another ₹1105.41 crore for construction of storm water drains, taking the total to ₹9,880.15 crore.
During the same period, in all three categories, constituencies where the Congress is in power received ₹2186.48 crore, according to Reddy.
Dasarahalli, where the JD(S) is in power has received ₹ 288 crore, data from the Congress shows. Bommai previously mooted an idea to create more integrated cities around Bengaluru.
“Bengaluru should be, according to me, like a planet where there will be satellite towns along with the best of connectivity with rail, road, hi-tech travel systems and easy mode of transportation for passengers,” Bommai said, as per the PTI report quoting the chief minister’s address at the Bengaluru 2040 Summit by Deccan Herald on Friday.The Bommai government had earmarked ₹8,409 crore for the ‘comprehensive development’ of Bengaluru in the March 4 state budget.
“Their (Congress) legislator constituencies are within the city. We have five lakh voters as against just around two lakh voters in their constituencies. They have got smart city funds from the Centre but they are making allegations for political reasons,” Satish Reddy said.
In September last year, Bommai had informed the upper house of the state legislature during the monsoon session that over ₹20,000 crore was spent only on road-related works in Bengaluru over the last five years.
In October last year, Bommai launched the ‘Dashboard’ initiative that allows real-time monitoring of major projects in Bengaluru to avoid delays and speedy implementation. Mega projects like the Metro, Outer Ring Road, Flyovers and other public works have led to huge challenges for the residents and the 9.4 million vehicles that ply on its poor quality of roads.
Bengaluru has 13,847 km of arterial and sub-arterial roads, of which only 295 km are said to be in good condition and another 246 km are ridden with potholes, according to the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP, the city’s civic body) in October last year.
