Vijayanagara (Karnataka), May 20 (IANS) Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said on Tuesday that the Congress-led state government has fulfilled 142 promises, including the five guarantees, within two years of coming to power in the state.
He assured that the remaining promises would be fulfilled over the next three years.
He was speaking at the “Sadhana Samavesha” convention organised by the Revenue Department to mark the completion of two years of the Congress government in the state.
The Chief Minister distributed title deeds to more than a lakh beneficiaries and unveiled a statue of the former PM late Indira Gandhi.
Referring to his first term as Chief Minister, Siddaramaiah, noted that his government had fulfilled 158 out of the 165 promises made during the Assembly elections held two years ago.
In addition, the Congress government implemented 30 new programmes that were not mentioned in the manifesto, the CM added.
He asked why the BJP, unlike the Congress, had failed to fulfill its promises and instead resorted to misleading the public.
“Our state is a garden of peace for all communities, a state that respects everyone equally. All religions must be treated equally under the Constitution, and we are committed to upholding these values,” he said.
The Chief Minister criticised the Central government, saying that Karnataka suffers financial losses every year.
“While we contribute Rs 4.5 lakh crore in taxes annually, we receive back only 14 paise for every rupee. This undermines the federal structure,” he remarked.
Siddaramaiah said that the BJP has never come to power in Karnataka on its own strength.
“Now they have allied with the JD-S. But BJP has never won a majority on its own. Except for Operation Lotus, the BJP has never been chosen by the people in Karnataka,” he added.
“The previous BJP government was accused of taking 40 per cent commission. We fought against it and, after coming to power, set up the Justice Nagamohan Das Committee to investigate. The committee’s report has confirmed the existence of commission-based dealings,” he said.
“In 2014, gold was Rs 10,000; now it has reached Rs 1 lakh. The price of LPG has gone from Rs 400 to Rs 850. Prices of diesel, petrol, cooking oil, pulses, and fertilisers have skyrocketed. The public anger is against the Central government, not against our state government. People’s support is with us,” he claimed.
He dismissed the BJP’s “Janakrosh Yatra” (public outrage) campaign as fake.
“The people of this state are our true masters. We have stayed true to our word to them. As long as we have your blessings, there is no question of being afraid of the mountain of lies spread by the BJP,” he concluded.
Deputy Chief Minister and State Congress President D.K. Shivakumar said that the ‘Land Guarantee’ scheme was the sixth of the Congress Guarantee schemes and added that it was meant to repay the debt of the people who blessed us with power in the state.
“We are giving the Land Guarantee scheme as the sixth guarantee to repay our debt to the people of the state who blessed us with power. As per the directions of the AICC President, the guarantee schemes will not be stopped as long as Congress government is in power,” he said while speaking at the event organised to mark the state government completing two years.
“We are not here to celebrate completing two years in office. We are here to repay the debts of the people of Karnataka and rededicate ourselves to the service of the people. You have blessed us with 136 MLAs under the leadership of Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi.”
“As promised, we delivered the five guarantees. We are now launching the sixth guarantee in Bhu Guarantee scheme,” he added.
“Our government is giving ‘khatas’ to people who did not have it for the last 50 years. I would like to congratulate Revenue Minister Krishna Byre Gowda and his team for making this historic scheme possible. I am announcing the seventh guarantee scheme of digitising all the khatas in urban areas,” he added.
“Industries have come forward to invest Rs 10 lakh crore in our state during our (Congress) tenure. We have launched Kalyana patha scheme to develop roads in rural areas. All other departments are also coming out with new schemes,” he said.
–IANS
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