'Yeddyurappa is weakest CM'

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Yeddyurappa himself has confessed that he has done all wrong things to retain his position as a Chief Minister. He has become a puppet in the hands of Reddy brothers. I have never seen such a helpless CM in the past three decades of my political career,” Siddaramaiah said.

Addressing a press conference here on Saturday, he said Yeddyurappa is the only Chief Minister in the history of the State who wept publicly that he could not continue a woman representative in the Cabinet to retain his own position.
“People are in doubt who actually is the Chief Minister, whether Yeddyurappa or Janardhan Reddy,” he added.

Siddaramaiah said the BJP government could not fulfil 75 per cent of its poll assurances. “It has miserably failed in all sectors which the CM himself has admitted. The finance condition of the State is in a pathetic condition. Except in Excise sector, revenue collection is on a negative progress in all other fields. Presently, the State has a debt of Rs 80,000 crore which mirrors the finance situation in Karnataka,” the former finance minister said.

“The State has a plan size of Rs 29,500 crore. It would be difficult to the government to achieve at least 50-60 per cent of the target in the present condition. The State is facing a hopeless situation,” he observed.

“The Central government is providing 25 kg rice to each of the 31.5 lakh families in the State, and the State requires an additional Rs 1,000 crore to give the same facility to the rest of the families. But the anti-poor government has failed to do this,” Siddaramaiah said.

Answering a query, he said the BJP government has also failed to make efficient use of the Central assistance in various sectors. “It is false to say that the Centre is doing injustice to the State while allocating funds. The government is not making proper use of the allocated grants. Of Rs 2,850 crore fund released by the Centre for implementing the MREG scheme in the State, Karnataka has been able to spend only Rs 1,500. This is a sorry state of affairs,” he criticised.

“The power situation in the state, especially in rural areas, is grave. The villages are not getting at least 2-3 hours’ quality power. No government has ever done this kind of errant power supply in the past,” he said adding that if Energy Minister K S Eshwarappa becomes the BJP’s State President, the party would lose power.

Asked about the recent developments regarding the BMIC project, the Opposition leader said the Congress is not against the project but it certainly opposes unnecessary land acquisition.

On the forthcoming BBMP elections, he said the Congress is eagerly awaiting the polls. “The BJP will definitely be defeated,” he said.