‘State govt posing hurdles to Centre's schemes’

The Congress – JD(S) coalition government in the state has been posing hurdles for the implementation of the ambitious programmes of the Central government, MLC Kota Srinivas Poojary has alleged.

Kota addressed reporters at the BJP election office on Wednesday.

“Under the ‘Kisan Samman’ scheme of the Central government, there are about 76 lakh eligible farmers in Karnataka, but the state government has identified only 16 lakh farmers. It has, therefore, deprived a large number of farmers of benefits of the schemes,” he cited.

Health insurance

The MLC also said that the ‘Ayushman Bharath’ health insurance coverage scheme of the Central government aims to cover 50 crore economically backward people.

“The state government has set a criterion, saying that the patients may produce the ‘Ayushman Bharat’ card at recognised hospitals in order to claim the insurance amount, only if the patient could not be provided advanced treatment at government hospitals. The criterion is unscientific,” Kota added.

“The state government has been doing everything that needs to be done to prevent the beneficiaries from availing of the benefits of the Central government schemes,” he said.

The MLC, stating that there are BJP workers in 1,861 booths in Dakshina Kannada constituency, expressed confidence that party candidate Nalin Kumar Kateel will win with a huge margin.

‘Manifesto clear’

Kota said that the election manifesto of the BJP is crystal clear on the scrapping of Article 370, on the construction of the Ram Mandir, on the Uniform Civil Code and on the river linking project.

“The BJP manifesto is a complete manifesto. It also assures freedom to Indian soldiers to curb terrorism. The manifesto of the Congress, in contrast, says that it would reduce the presence of the Indian Army and the CRPFs in the Kashmir Valley. It would review the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act and the Disturbed Areas Act in Jammu and Kashmir,” he stated and also condemned the move of the Mahagathbandhan to back the anti-national forces.

I-T raids

Also condemning the move of the Congress and the JD(S) leaders to protest in front of the Income Tax office in Bengaluru against the I-T raids, Kota said that the I-T Department has the freedom to raid the places they need to. “The Department officials had raided the residence of BJP MP G M Siddeshwar,” he reminded.

“The pledge made by Narendra Modi that he would bring black money holders on the streets is becoming true,” he opined.

Manippadi report

MLC Kota Srinivas Poojary declined to get into a detailed discussion on Congress leader Mallikarjuna Kharge’s comment that the BJP has been taking all credit for the temples built by the Congress.

“The report submitted by Anwar Manippadi, former chairperson of the Minority Commission, contained details on the encroachment of 27,000 acres worth Rs 2.5 lakh crore and reserved for the welfare of the minorities. The previous state government, backed by Kharge, had stalled the tabling of the report, although the Karnataka High Court directed to implement the report,” Kota said.

The BJP had staged a protest in front of the Gandhi statue on the Vidhana Soudha premises, demanding the implementation of the report, said Kota and urged the state government to present the report before the public.