Shettar defends BJP 'charge sheet' against Congress govt

Jagadish Shettar, the Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Assembly, has defended the BJP’s “charge sheet” against the state government, saying the information is “based on facts”.

“I am ready to prove each and every charge against the Congress government. The information in the booklet has been sourced from government departments,” he told journalists here on Monday.

He said Congress leaders were dismissing the charges but were not responding to specific figures quoted in the booklet. Citing the projects taken up by the Irrigation Department, he said the government had announced that it would allocate Rs 10,000 crore each year for the Upper Krishna Project (UKP). But it allocated a total of Rs 44,000 crore to the Irrigation Department which has spent just Rs 32,000 crore so far. The UKP received just Rs 13,000 crore in the last four years, he said.


‘Crime rate up’

Karnataka is among the top two in communal riots, Shettar said and added that the crime rate, too, had gone up, with Bengaluru alone accounting for 1.25 lakh FIRs in the past four years. He cited the survey conducted by an NGO that Karnataka is the most corrupt state. As many as 77% people in the state feel that no government work gets completed without bribery, he said, quoting the survey. Shettar vowed to challenge the government in the Legislative Assembly on its claims about the progress of various projects.

The BJP leader further said there were disagreements among Congressmen about who should lead the party in the 2018 Assembly elections. “Chief Minister Siddaramaiah says he will lead the party, while the seniormost Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge says they will fight the elections under collective leadership. It shows the party has no confidence in Siddaramaiah,” he said.

Shettar also targeted the Pathala Gange project, saying cloud seeding is unscientific and will harm the environment.