JOIN USCM trying to please Rahul, says Kumaraswamy
JD(S) leader H D Kumaraswamy on Wednesday accused Chief Minister Siddaramaiah of trying to please Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi and not doing enough to provide relief to the distressed farmers.
Speaking to reporters, he said the chief minister recently announced certain measures to provide relief to farmers in order to please Rahul, who was on a two-day visit to the State on October 9 and 10.
“The family of every farmer (who committed suicide) would have got Rs 15 lakh each had the government distributed the amount incurred on making preparations for Rahul’s visit,” he said and added that Rs 4 to Rs 5 crore was spent on making arrangements for his visit. This had burdened the State’s exchequer.
Open criticism
It is perhaps for the first time Kumaraswamy has openly criticised the Congress leaders after the Congress-JD(S) alliance in the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike.
The JD(S) leader further said the administration had taken a hit in the last two and half years.
So much so that Legislative Assembly Speaker Kagodu Thimmappa had recently said that he was ready to touch Siddaramaiah’s feet if steps were taken to issue title deeds to farmers, he said.
CM’s U-turn
Kumaraswamy said Siddaramaiah was trying to shield land-grabbers in Bengaluru. The chief minister had proposed to set up a committee headed by forest officer U V Singh to find out the extent of forest land encroachments in Bengaluru. But later, he backtracked because of ‘pressure’.
“What kind of administration is this? Instead of making the administration effective, the chief minister is trying to get a certificate from Rahul Gandhi,” he said.
Kumaraswamy also attacked the BJP leaders and accused them of laying the foundation for jungle raj in Karnataka.
“The BJP laid the foundation for jungle raj and the present Congress government is now working towards installing it (jungle raj),” he said, warning that dev-elopment of the State will take a big hit if the style of administration is not chan-ged.