Bengaluru, Sep 25 (SocialNews.XYZ) Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and Leader of the Opposition in the Karnataka Assembly R. Ashoka on Friday questioned why a Finance Department advisory letter on the alleged shortage of funds had been leaked, alleging that Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar himself was behind the leak to shift the blame for the state’s financial situation onto former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah.
“Why has the Finance Department’s advisory letter on fund shortage leaked now? To convey that Siddaramaiah cheated and emptied the treasury, Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar himself leaked this letter,” Ashoka alleged at a press conference in Bengaluru.
He claimed that such a confidential letter could not easily be leaked and alleged that either the Chief Minister or the Chief Secretary must have made it public.
“This is an embarrassing matter for Siddaramaiah. The government is pushing the state into a debt trap. The Finance Department has said there are pending bills of Rs 2 lakh crore,” Ashoka said.
Ashoka also criticised the Congress government’s handling of drought relief, accusing it of insulting farmers by providing inadequate compensation. He said farmers had expected higher compensation or a loan waiver during the special Assembly session on drought, but were instead given Rs 2,500 per acre.
He claimed that under National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) guidelines, farmers should receive Rs 8,000 per acre and argued that no financial emergency comparable to the COVID-19 pandemic or a war would justify inadequate relief.
Ashoka further claimed that the Centre had provided significantly higher compensation to Karnataka during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s tenure compared with the UPA period. He said the Centre provided Rs 16,071 crore between 2015 and 2025, apart from Rs 4,500 crore from the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF).
Referring to compensation during the previous BJP government, Ashoka said the state had provided compensation in line with the Centre’s guideline rates and argued that farmers should receive similar or higher assistance now.
He accused the government of making new announcements despite the Finance Department warning about limited borrowing capacity and alleged that pending bills had reached Rs 2 lakh crore.
Ashoka also criticised the proposed tunnel road project in Bengaluru, saying the funds could instead be used to provide higher drought compensation to farmers.
He warned that the BJP would take the issue to the people and said the government would face political consequences if it failed to provide adequate relief to farmers.
Ashoka further alleged that Congress MLAs were unhappy with the government and claimed there had been little achievement in the first 100 days of the Shivakumar government.
Source: IANS
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