CM Siddaramaiah slams Centre for price rise, blames previous BJP govt in Karnataka for 'deteriorating' economy
Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Friday slammed the Centre for «failing to control steep price rise», and hit out at the previous BJP government for «deteriorating» the state's economy. «The Central government failed to control steep increase in the prices of essential commodities and fuel during 2022-23.
The common man is severely distressed by the steep increase in prices,» Siddaramaiah said in his Budget speech in the Legislative Assembly. To protect the common man from such an adverse environment has been the primary motivation behind the five 'guarantees' (poll promises of the Congress), he said.
The five 'guarantees' related to free bus travel for women, 200 units of free electricity, 10 kilograms of free foodgrains to the poor, Rs 2,000 for the woman head of the house and unemployment benefit of up to Rs 3,000. Even though Karnataka is one of the main contributors to Centre's revenue collection, only 3.65 per cent of the divisible pool is devolved to the state by the Central government, the Chief Minister alleged.
«When compared to other states, our state has incurred huge losses due to the recommendations of the 15th Finance Commission, which meted out gross injustice to Karnataka,» Siddaramaiah claimed. According to Siddaramaiah, Karnataka has incurred a shortfall in tax devolution to the tune of Rs 26,140 crore in the past three years and Rs 10,858 crore in 2023-24 alone.
He sought to target the previous BJP government in the state for its «failure to protect the interest of the state». «When the 15th Finance Commission submitted its report, although same party was in power at the Centre, the then state government failed to protect the interest of the state by being a silent spectator without putting
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