'With or without Budget, we're doing developmental work': D K Shivakumar

'No other district in India has 25 government schools, each one costing Rs 15 crore. Was this in the Budget?', the deputy CM said.

Bengaluru: Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar on Wednesday said he does not need the State Budget to carry out developmental works in his Bengaluru South district.

“There’s no need to have expectations from the Budget. With or without the Budget, we’re doing our work,” Shivakumar said.

Shivakumar was responding to a question on what people in his district can expect from the 2026-27 Budget that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah is scheduled to present on March 6.

Shivakumar had skipped pre-budget meetings with Siddaramaiah.

“Others need the Budget. We don’t. It’s not that we need to take up works only if they’re announced in the Budget,” Shivakumar said.

Shivakumar cited the examples of flagship Karnataka Public Schools (KPS) in the Bengaluru South district. “No other district in India has 25 government schools, each one costing ₹15 crore. Was this in the Budget? We’ve done it,” he said.

During the JD(S)-Congress coalition government in 2018-19, Shivakumar said a medical college was announced for the Bengaluru South (then Ramanagara) district. “But the next BJP government under BS Yediyurappa took the medical college to Chikballapur. Now, we’ve given medical colleges to both Ramanagara and Kanakapura,” he said.