Karnataka’s new chief minister Siddaramaiah slammed the previous BJP government for not obtaining the state’s share of taxes, hours after being sworn-in. The former leader of opposition added that the Centre is yet to release the ₹5,495 crore special allowance recommended by the 15th Finance Commission. Blaming union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the state’s losses, he termed the Basavaraj Bommai-led earlier government as ‘useless’.
Addressing a press conference in Vidhan Soudha, he said, “Govt which was ruling before was useless, they couldn’t get us the share of taxes properly. Centre has to give us ₹5,495 crores as per the finance commission recommendation. Previous govt didn’t get it. Nirmala Sitharaman is Rajya Sabha MP from Karnataka and it’s because of her & the PM that Karnataka suffered losses.”
The Congress veteran also announced that an “in-principle” nod was granted during the first cabinet meeting to implement the party’s five pre-poll guarantees. Although it would approximately cost the exchequer ₹50,000 crore annually, Siddaramaiah said the government will deliver on the promises. While the state’s budget size is ₹3.1 lakh crore, Siddaramaiah expressed confidence that the government will be able to raise the money for the expense estimated for the guarantees.
“When we are paying ₹56,000 crore (annually) as interest on our loan, can’t we spend ₹50,000 crore for our people? Without entrapping the state in debts and without pushing the state into financial bankruptcy, we will implement all the guarantee schemes,” he added.
The CM announced that more details will be shared by the next cabinet meeting, which will be called within a week. “We will discuss financial implications and then we will do it for sure,” he said.
The first Cabinet meeting was held immediately after Siddaramaiah was sworn in as CM, and D K Shivakumar as deputy CM along with eight MLAs as ministers.
The Karnataka Legislative Assembly session is to be held on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, next week.
