Siddaramaiah Asks Shivakumar Govt To Fulfill Poll Promises, Address Drought

Bengaluru: Former Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Thursday urged the D K Shivakumar-led government to focus on fulfilling its poll promises, continuing the five guarantee schemes and addressing drought, saying the Congress administration was moving in the "right direction".

Speaking at an event marking 100 days of the Congress government under Shivakumar's leadership, Siddaramaiah said the occasion should not be treated merely as a celebration but as an opportunity to assess whether the government was fulfilling its commitments to the people.

"These days are not meant merely for celebration. They are an opportunity and a responsibility to place before ourselves whether we are moving in the right direction or not," he said.

Siddaramaiah said the five guarantee schemes (Gruha Jyothi, Gruha Lakshmi, Anna Bhagya, Shakti, and Yuva Nidhi) had been implemented despite criticism from the Opposition that they would bankrupt the state and leave no funds for development. About Rs 52,000 crore is being spent annually on the schemes, he said.

He said the guarantees had benefited poor people across communities and claimed that the Congress had fulfilled several other manifesto promises while continuing to provide funds for development works.

"All manifesto promises need not be implemented in one year. An honest effort should be made to fulfil all the promises over five years," he said, citing the previous Congress government's record of fulfilling 158 of the 165 promises made in 2013 under his leadership.

Siddaramaiah said the government should continue the guarantee schemes as they were necessary to reduce inequality and build an equal society in accordance with the Constitution.

"The ideals of the Constitution require us to build an equal society. When there is scope for oppression and exploitation, they can be stopped only when everyone gets equal opportunities," he said.

He congratulated Shivakumar and his Cabinet, saying the CM (D K Shivakumar) had been making efforts to continue the guarantees and introduce new programmes.

"I feel that the Shivakumar government is moving in the right direction," Siddaramaiah said, urging the government to fulfil its remaining promises during the more than 18 months left in its term.

He hit out at the BJP over its proposed padayatra (foot march), alleging that the Opposition was using former minister B Nagendra's resignation for political purposes instead of raising pressing issues such as drought.

"For ten days, the Assembly was disrupted. Today, there is a severe drought in this state. They did not discuss the drought. They are undertaking a padayatra, saying Nagendra should resign," he said.

Calling the padayatra a "gimmick", Siddaramaiah said neither the CM nor the government needed to respond to it.

He further attacked BJP state president B Y Vijayendra over corruption allegations against the Congress, referring to the previous BJP government headed by B S Yediyurappa.

On drought, Siddaramaiah urged the government to immediately declare more eligible taluks drought-hit rather than depend entirely on assistance from the Centre.

He said 101 taluks had already been declared drought-hit and questioned whether the Centre would provide assistance.

"I have doubts whether the central government will come to your assistance. I doubt that it will. Please do not depend on that," he said.

Siddaramaiah urged ministers to hold public grievance meetings in their respective districts and work to empower the poor, Dalits, backward classes, minorities, women and workers.

"Make your government people-oriented," he said, expressing confidence that the Shivakumar-led government would continue its initiatives and fulfill its commitments to the people.