Taxpayers’ money not used to waive loans: HDK

Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy insisted on Sunday that he has never used the taxpayers’ money to waive the loans of farmers.

“Under the loan waiver scheme, 15,58,000 families in Udupi district will receive Rs 11,170 crore. An amount of Rs 6,500 crore has been deposited in the accounts of farmers,” the chief minister informed reporters.

Devt programmes

“The government has objected to the Election Commission’s decision to stall the loan waiver programme due to as elections are on. But, the Centre has been allowed to deposit funds in the accounts of farmers. This is complete injustice,” he criticised.

Kumaraswamy said the coalition partners, the JD(S) and the Congress, were banking on the development programme to help them get a minimum of 20 Lok Sabha seats.

Elaborating, he said that the government had released Rs 1,075 crore to the district.

“Development projects worth Rs 58 crore have been introduced in Karkala in the last nine months. In addition, 1,500 footbridges in the coastal and Malnad areas have been approved, keeping in mind the safety of children,” added the chief minister.

He accused the Modi government of ruining the country’s economy. “No party will promise to borrow Rs 4.52 trillion in its poll agenda. Implementation of the demonetisation and the GST were huge blunders,” he said.

Fighting wars

“Post-Independence, prime ministers have shown tremendous courage to protect the country during outbreak of wars. The BJP, however, is portraying Modi as the only saviour of the country and its security,” Kumaraswamy pointed out.

He also clarified that his statements on the Pulwama incident were wrongly interpreted by the media. He urged the media – especially, the electronic media – to show restraint.

Attending a huge rally in Karkala, the chief minister said that the voters of the coastal area were intelligent and knew whom to choose. Mere campaigning in the name of Modi would not help the BJP candidates.

“The candidates have no capacity of their own. It is sad that the entire country is made to believe that Modi is the only answer for defence needs of the country,” he expressed worry.

Modi and youth

He urged voters not to be misled by the fake agenda of the BJP. “The party is misleading voters, especially the youth, although Modi has done nothing for the youth. The new trend these days is the youth shouting slogans in support of Modi,” the chief minister pointed out.

The chief minister later met Paryaya Palimaru Mutt seer Vidyadheesha Swami at the Sri Krishna Mutt in Udupi.