Congress leader in the Lok Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge, on Wed- nesday charged the BJP with misusing Rs 7,500 crore released by the then UPA government to the Bru-hat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JnNURM) scheme between 2009 and 2012.

Addressing reporters, he said the money was released for purchasing buses, upgrading roads, repairing and de-silting stormwater drains and other works. Though the money was shown as spent, none of the works was implemented. This shows the BJP misused its power, he said. In 2013, the UPA government had sanctioned another Rs 2,400 crore under JnNURM for Bengaluru. But the BBMP failed to get the money as it did not furnish the utilisation certificates for the funds released previously. “The BJP has cheated the City’s citizens. People will teach them (BJP leaders) a lesson in the coming elections,” he said.

When asked why the Congress government led by Siddaramaiah had not been able to restore the dented image of Bengaluru in the last two years, Kharge said the government had done its best to repair the damage. “The government is not sitting silent. It appointed the Rajendra Kumar Kataria Committee and dug out all the irregularities,” he added.

To a question why the party was seeking votes on the basis of the work done during the
S M Krishna government and not the Siddaramaiah government’s performance in the last two years, he said: “The Siddaramaiah government has done a good job for the welfare of the rural populace in the last two years. It is now focusing on urban areas. It is not possible to focus on both the places (urban and rural areas) at the same time.” He said the outcome of the polls will not be a referendum on the Congress government in the State.