The government is said to have sanctioned Rs 1,200 crore for road development in constituencies represented by BJP legislators, according to Congress lawmakers who are fuming.
Congress MLAs H K Patil, Shivananda Patil and Yashwanthrayagouda Patil raised the issue in the Assembly.
When Public Works Minister C C Patil approached them, the MLAs complained about the bias.
"Under Appendix-C, you have discriminated against us. Constituencies represented by Congress members have got nothing, whereas BJP constituencies are getting funds in the range of Rs 35 crore to Rs 40 crore," Patil said.
In Hoskote, where Sharath Bachegowda is the MLA, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai has directed the finance department to sanction Rs 52 crore - Rs 25 crore for PWD, Rs 15 crore for RDPR and Rs 12 crore for social welfare - on the request of Municipalities Minister M T B Nagaraj.
"There is no value for the requests made by Congress legislators," one MLA lamented.
"You have to give the money to departments, based on the requirement. Instead, you are putting the cart before the horse," the MLA said.
"And, the way in which JD(S) MLAs are getting funds, it looks like the BJP is preparing the pitch for a coalition."
According to a senior PWD official, there is a lot of demand for Appendix-C funds.
"During the session, our party should vociferously oppose the arbitrary manner in which grants are being sanctioned to non-Congress constituencies. Instead, they're raking up irrelevant issues," a senior Congress MLA lamented.
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Published 21 February 2022, 17:26 IST