YADGIR: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Saturday said that he is not aware of senior leader S.M. Krishna’s moves to join the Bharatiya Janata Party, but added that the Congress high command is trying to persuade him to return to the party-fold.
Mr Siddaramaiah, who was here to inaugurate the district office building complex, was irritated when pointedly asked whether he was trying to bring Mr Krishna back to Congress.
“What do you mean me? As a chief minister what I could have done? It’s the high command which is seized of the matter,” an irritated chief minister replied. On comments by Mr Krishna that the views of senior leaders like him were not respected by the Chief Minister, Mr Siddaramaiah, throwing off his hands, said, “How can I address his problems if he decides to resign all of a sudden?”
On the revised report by the Sarojini Mahashi committee, he said it will be placed before the next cabinet. He said 164 taluks are reeling under severe drought. “The state government has submitted a memorandum seeking a grant of Rs 3,310 crore. This is in addition to the demand for '4,702 crore during kharif season,” he said.
Asked whether he will waive off farmers’ loans in the budget, Mr Siddaramaiah said that it is the Centre which should address the issue as over 75% of loans have been given by nationalised banks. “We can chip in if the Centre decides to waive off the loans,” he said.
