Budget rubs Cong MLAs the wrong way

Several Congress legislators on Thursday expressed displeasure that Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy’s budget had little for them to cheer about.

Urban Development Minister U T Khader, Minority Welfare Minister B Z Zameer Ahmed Khan and former minister Tanveer Sait were dismayed that the budget contained no mention of schemes or programmes for minorities. “How do we answer the people of our community,” they asked the chief minister.

Other legislators complained that their constituencies and districts had not found any representation in the budget. Veteran Congress leader H K Patil was annoyed that the budget did not have new announcements for north Karnataka.

“This is a Hassan budget. It’s completely H D Revanna’s budget,” Congress legislators complained. Among them was Basavakalyan legislator B Narayanrao, who reportedly confronted Revanna in the corridors of the Vidhana Soudha. Former chief minister Siddaramaiah gestured at Narayanrao to keep quiet.