JOIN USSiddu rules out revenge politics
Chief minister-designate Siddaramaiah said on Saturday that revenge politics was not on his agenda and asserted that social security schemes introduced by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government would be streamlined. He added that he would not scrap them.
In an interaction with Deccan Herald, Siddaramaiah said he personally would not try to settle scores with anyone. There would be no interference on the part of the government against sitting or former legislators who were facing corruption charges.
“There is a legal mechanism in place which will take care of cases,” he said when asked whether he would go all out against those who faced corruption cases or violated rules through denotification of public land.
Siddaramaiah, as Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Assembly, often used to brand the BJP a curse to the State because, according to him, corruption touched the nadir in the last five years. He had emphatically said that he would send all the tainted BJP leaders to jail.
When asked whether his plans of setting up a special court to conduct trials against corrupt politicians would materialise, he said: “Yes. We have to recover money from those who indulged in illegal mining and looted the public wealth. For that, we need a special court.”
Asked whether the court, if and when established, would handle illegal land denotification cases and other corrupt practices, he replied in the negative. “The court will only handle illegal mining cases,” he added.
To a question whether social security pension schemes such as the Bhagyalakshmi bond scheme and “Sakaala,” the time-bound service delivery programme, would be scrapped because they were launched by the previous government, Siddaramaiah said his government would only streamline the schemes. “No pension scheme or the Bhagyalakshmi bond scheme would be scrapped. But we will see whether the benefits are reaching the target group,” he asserted.
However, he said the “Sakaala” scheme would be reviewed to see its efficacy. He said that it was yet to be seen whether schemes served any purpose.
When asked whether he would stop grant of government funds to religious institutions, Siddaramaiah said: “No temple or swamiji asks government to give grants. No one seeks funds saying there is shortage of funds. So, we have to sanction grants only if it is required and not voluntarily.”
When asked about his priority, he said: “It is a big challenge to meet the aspirations of the people. The State’s administration has taken a severe beating in the last five years. There is no governance as such now. My immediate priority would be put the administration back on its track and give a clean, corruption-free and transparent government to the people. I have to leave a mark as a good administrator.” he said.
He said it would not be a tall task to discipline officials. “Those who do their duty and good job will naturally be appreciated. Otherwise, they will be in trouble,” he said.
The Congress leader said his government would give importance to improving the financial situation of the state and agricultural as well as social sectors.
He said the legislature would be convened in June so that his government could present budget.
He would ensure that ministers in charge of districts spend two days in a week in their respective jurisdictions and remain accessible to the people. Siddaramaiah said it was unfortunate that KPCC president Parameshwara lost the election. Asked whether Parameshwara would in his cabinet, Siddaramaiah said the matter would be decided by the Congress high command.
However, Parameshwara, in an interaction with this newspaper said he had no reservations in becoming a minister.