Bengaluru, Feb 2 (PTI) Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Monday asserted that he is not a helpless chief minister as alleged by the opposition BJP.

Replying to the opposition's allegations in Assembly, Siddaramaiah said, “MLA V Sunil Kumar has said that the government has lost its direction. Our government has neither lost direction, nor worst and I am not a helpless chief minister. We have fulfilled all the promises we made to the people.” Siddaramaiah defended his government’s feat in the Karnataka Assembly, rejecting opposition allegations that the Congress regime lacked sensitivity towards farmers and the common people.

He also compared the policies of his government and those of the previous BJP regimes, accusing the latter of being insensitive and anti-farmer.

“Our government is sensitive. The earlier BJP government was insensitive — Yediyurappa reduced the rice given under the Anna Bhagya scheme and even resorted to firing when farmers demanded fertilisers,” he said.

Siddaramaiah said the previous BJP government had also discontinued welfare-oriented schemes such as Anugraha and Krushi Bhagya.

“Those schemes were stopped by the BJP, but our government has followed a humane and sensitive approach,” he said.

Siddaramaiah also said, "During the COVID-19 pandemic, 36 people died due to lack of oxygen in Chamarajanagar but your government said only three died. Was that your sensitivity?" Referring to sugarcane farmers, the chief minister said that while the Centre had fixed the Fair and Remunerative Price (FRP), the state government held negotiations with protesting farmers and fixed a price of Rs 3,300 per tonne.

“Even though this decision imposed an additional burden of Rs 300 crore on the state, the government responded to the farmers’ demands,” he said.

On support to maize growers, Siddaramaiah said the Centre had fixed the Minimum Support Price (MSP) at Rs 2,400.

“After discussions with farmers and factory owners, the State government made arrangements to purchase 40 lakh metric tonnes of maize and fixed an additional Rs 250 per quintal, thereby addressing the farmers’ problem,” he said.

Comparing Union budget sizes, Siddaramaiah told the House, “During the UPA government’s ten-year tenure from 2003-04 to 2013-14, the total Union Budget size was Rs 95,21,493 crore. Under the NDA government, from 2014-15 till now, it has risen to Rs 3,80,95,527 crore.” Responding to criticism that his government had burdened people through price hikes, the chief minister said the allegation was misleading. “Even though there have been price revisions in the budget over the last three years, compared to other states, the increase is significantly lower. The allegation of excessive taxation is far from the truth,” he said.

Highlighting social justice measures, Siddaramaiah said his government had implemented the SCP-TSP scheme and urged the Centre to do the same. “During the BJP tenure in 2022-23, only Rs 1,10,627 crore was allocated. But from 2023-24 till now, our government has provided Rs 1,17,197 crore under this scheme,” he said.

He further said that during the present government’s tenure, Rs 1,538.60 crore had been allocated to various community development corporations. “In comparison, the Yediyurappa-led BJP government had provided only Rs 472.80 crore, while the Basavaraj Bommai government allocated Rs 883 crore,” the chief minister said.

Ashoka countered the CM’s claims saying that the BJP government gave Rs 1,699.09 crore to 16 government corporations, whereas the Congress government gave just Rs 643.6 crore. The difference is Rs 1,055 crore, he claimed.

On BJP’s allegation that there were Bangladeshis in the illegal slum that came up in Kogilu, the CM said the slum came up when the BJP was in power.

Siddaramaiah assured the House that there was no question of giving alternative homes to the Bangladeshis.

“We will not give houses to Bangladeshis. If they are found then we will drive them out,” he said. Regarding the Ballari violence over a poster near the BJP MLA Janardhana Reddy's house on January 1, in which a Congress worker was killed in a shootout by a private gunman, Siddaramaiah said no offender would be spared.

"Already the matter has been assigned to the CID. We will take action irrespective of how big those involved in it are," he asserted. PTI GMS GMS ADB