Karnataka facing severe fund crunch: HD Kumaraswamy

Hubballi: Janata Dal (S) state president H.D. Kumaraswamy has alleged that the state government is facing a severe financial crunch due to poor revenue collection.

Addressing reporters here on Sunday, he claimed that CM Siddaramaiah is flagging off various projects launched by JD(S)-BJP government in 2006-07 without making any fund allocation for pending works. He said the development process has suffered owing to lack of financial aid from the Central government.

Ridiculing the state-wide tour of the Chief Minister to inaugurate various development projects, he said the Congress will suffer defeat in the ZP, TP elections due to its poor governance. “Revenue collection in the state has dropped to Rs 16,000 crores this fiscal. Due to this, development works have been hampered and problems confronting farmers have not been resolved. Onion, cotton and grape growers have failed to get compensation though several months have passed after they lost their crops,” he said.

Reiterating that JD(S) will contest ZP, TP elections on its own, he said the party will not field candidates in the three Assembly by-polls.