NEW DELHI : Hitting out at the Congress government in Karnataka, Bharatiya Janata Party MP Tejasvi Surya said that the policies of the grand old party are pushing the state into ‘bankruptcy’.
He alleged that the Karnataka government is diverting money from the developmental and infrastructure projects towards “mindless freebies.”
In an exclusive interview with ANI, Surya said, “Look at the headlines that Karnataka is making over the last few months. DK Shivakumar says that we that we don’t have money for development…an honest admission because all the money is now diverted to fulfil the Congress guarantees, the freebies. The state is being pushed towards bankruptcy.”
He also slammed Congress for announcing similar policies in its manifesto for Lok Sabha elections and said that it is having a “disastrous effect” in the state of Karnataka.
“The Congress has also released its manifesto and has five guarantees that are now a national project. We have seen in Karnataka over the last 7-8 months the debilitating and disastrous effect of this kind of an economic policy,” he added.
Tejasvi Surya, who represents the Bengaluru South constituency in the Lok Sabha, is set to contest polls again from the same seat.
Citing the Karnataka government’s allocation for energy, the BJP leader said that the expenditure has increased because the government is providing 200 units of free electricity, which was one of the main poll promises of the Congress party ahead of Karnataka assembly polls.
“In the budget this year, Karnataka has allocated 6.7 per cent of its total expenditure towards energy which is higher than the average allocation by all states, which is around 4.7 per cent. Now the 6.7 per cent that is about 2 per cent increase is because of the 200 units free electricity that they providing under this Gruha Jyoti Scheme. now because they have provided the 2 per cent extra here, they have to make up for it somewhere else and where are they doing it,” the BJP MP said.
“Karnataka has allocated 0.6 per cent of its total expenditure towards Urban Development while other states are providing 3.5 per cent so you take away money from Bengaluru and use it on your freebies,” he added.
The BJP leader further emphasised that Bengaluru is a city that contributes 60 per cent of the state’s GDP, yet no money is being allocated for infrastructure development in the city.
“The city suffers from traffic jams, the city suffers from water crisis. The city’s lakes are being encroached upon, the city’s roads are ridden with potholes, and not a single MLA in Karnataka in Bangalore in the last 8-10 months has been given even a single rupee for any infrastructure development work in the constituent because all your money is going for freebies,” he further added.
Citing the allocation for education by the state government, he alleged that the policies are having an adverse impact not just today but also on the children of tomorrow.
“Karnataka has given 11 per cent allocation for education in the year 2024-25 while other states the average is 14.7 per cent so you are taking away money that would otherwise have been allocated to education just to fund your freebies now what is the casualty not just development of today but the casualty is also the quality of education of young people of Karnataka the children of Karnataka for tomorrow,” he added.
Karnataka, with 28 Lok Sabha seats, will vote in two phases on April 26 and May 7. The counting of votes is scheduled on June 4.
In the 2019 elections, the Congress and JD-S alliance — which was also in power in the state at that time — suffered a significant defeat, with the BJP winning 25 seats and the alliance partners getting one each.
This time, however, the BJP and JD-S are contesting the polls together, with former contesting on 25 seats. The Congress party is currently in power in the state after registering a huge victory in assembly polls last year. (ANI)
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