Siddaramaiah revives his 'step-motherly' remark for Centre, alleges K'taka ministers unable to meet PM Modi

Mysuru: Karnataka Chief Minister Siddramaiah on Sunday alleged that the central government has been showing a step-motherly attitude towards the state.

Speaking to media persons at the airport during his visit to Mysuru, he said. “The Union Ministers  and the Prime Minister are not giving time to meet our ministers. Our ministers had to return after waiting to meet them for three days in Delhi.  This shows the negligence of the Centre and its step-motherly treatment”.

“The Prime Minister is not able to tolerate Congress coming to power in the state. Hence, he has been neglecting the drought issue. I have instructed the respective district-in-charge ministers to assess the drought situation at every taluk and submit a report within November 15. The compensation works have started. The state government has released Rs 900 crore initially, and later Rs 324 crore”, the CM said.

In all, the state has suffered a loss of Rs 33,000 crore due to drought. As per guidelines, we have sought Rs 17,900 crore relief. But not a single rupee has been released, the CM said.

Explaining that he has written a letter to the Prime Minister and Union Home Minister, Siddaramaiah said, “What are the BJP leaders doing here by touring the state? If they are really concerned about the farmers, they should speak to the Union Ministers and urge them to release funds”.

Commenting on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s poll guarantees, Siddaramaiah said, “He has been criticising the Congress government’s guarantees politically. If he guarantees something during the election to the five states, it is for the poor. If we do the same, it is bankruptcy. Whatever he says, we are always in favour of the poor”.

"They had assumed that we would not implement the poll guarantees. As we have implemented them, the PM is not able to tolerate it. Hence, he is levelling allegations", Siddaramaiah criticised.