'Squandering of Kannadigas’ money': BJP slams Karnataka govt for spending Rs 10 crore on Wayanad landslide rehab

Bengaluru: The Congress government in Karnataka has spent Rs 10 crore towards rehabilitation of 100 families that were affected by landslides at Meppadi in Wayanad, which is represented by top party leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra in the Lok Sabha.

This evoked criticism from the Opposition BJP, which called it “squandering” of Rs 10 crore of “Kannadigas’ tax money”.

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had announced in August last year that Karnataka would construct 100 houses for the landslide victims of Wayanad.

Accordingly, the government has included Rs 10 crore towards this in the supplementary estimates tabled in the Assembly.

Siddaramaiah defended this when Leader of the Opposition R Ashoka raised this in the Assembly on Thursday. "You have given Rs 10 lakh per house. For Kannadigas in our state, you give Rs 95,000 per house damaged in natural disasters," Ashoka said.

"I had announced this earlier. It's not wrong. This is a good gesture in a federal system. We must have humanity. When there was flooding in 2019, several corporates donated funds to manage the situation," Siddaramaiah said.

Karnataka has also spent Rs 56.64 lakh to meet expenditure incurred in rescuing people from the state who were stranded during natural disasters in Uttarakhand.

“Totally, an additional amount of Rs 1,056.64 lakh (or Rs 10.56 crore) is being provided as additional share of the state under State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF),” the government said in the supplementary estimates, which contains additional expenditures incurred by the government over and above the budget provisions.

“CM Siddaramaiah, was it not you who campaigned in Delhi shouting ‘My Tax, My Right’, insisting Karnataka’s money must not leave the state? Yet today, you divert ₹10 crore of Kannadigas’ tax money to Wayanad in Kerala, just because it’s Priyanka Gandhi Vadra’s constituency,” BJP state president BY Vijayendra said in a tweet.

The first installment of supplementary estimates aggregating Rs 3,352.57 crore of additional expenditure incurred in the current fiscal. It includes Rs 10 crore spent on the government's Sadhana Samavesha in Vijayanagar to mark two years of Congress in office.

"Where will you get Rs 3,352 crore? Will you levy new taxes? Will you borrow loans?" BJP's V Sunil Kumar asked.

Siddaramaiah said the government will increase its tax efficiency. "We will also do re-appropriation and borrow additional loans if required," he said.