Siddaramaiah himself to blame for funding inequality: Pralhad Joshi
Pralhad Joshi attempted to turn the tables on the Karnataka Congress regime on Tuesday, saying that if there was any inequality in funds distribution, CM Siddaramaiah himself was responsible for it. He was the chief minister back in 2016 when the Finance Commission assessed Karnataka, Joshi said, and it was his responsibility to present the state’s demands accurately.
Slamming the Congress, Joshi added that the leaders were attacking the Centre with false allegations of inequality in funds devolution merely to cover up their own infighting.
“[Chief minister] Siddaramaiah is an expert in lying…they are doing this drama in the background of the Lok Sabha elections to divert attention from the infighting between him and DK Shivakumar,” the MP from Dharwad said. Lok Sabha polls are months away and the Congress has been trying to corner the ruling BJP over fiscal inequality towards the states, with protests in the national capital as well as social media campaigns.
These attacks, Joshi said, were baseless and added that Siddaramaiah should have congratulated Prime Minister Narendra Modi. “About Rs 60,000 crores in grant-in-aid was given to the state during the UPA period from 2004-14. In the last 10 years during the Modi era, the grant amount released until now is Rs 2,36,000 crores,” he said.
Saying that there was no money for development was a blatant lie, as even as of mid-February, 38% of Karnataka’s budget remained unspent added the minister. “About 34% (Rs 5,727 crore) of various centrally sponsored projects
