Bengaluru, Mar 12 (PTI) Alleging that the 2026-27 Karnataka Budget presented by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has failed to meet people's expectations, state BJP President B Y Vijayendra on Thursday said that it clearly shows the government's "financial and intellectual bankruptcy".

He spoke while participating in the Budget discussion in the Legislative Assembly.

"The chief minister, who is also the Finance minister, has presented his 17th budget at a time when he is in the twilight of his political career. He had a golden opportunity to use his long political experience to address the state's challenges and respond to the people's aspirations. However, after examining this budget, the state's people feel that he has helplessly given up," Vijayendra said.

He said a close look at the budget clearly shows the government's "financial and intellectual bankruptcy".

"Overall, it appears that the chief minister has limited this budget to blaming the Central Government to hide his own failures. The state government has failed in revenue collection. By taking excessive loans, the government has pushed the people of the state into a debt trap," he added.

Alleging that the budget is full of "blatant lies," the BJP chief said the government claims it has prioritized filling government posts and building roads, bridges, and infrastructure.

"If that is true, then how many roads have been constructed in the last three years? How many bridges have been built? How many government posts have been filled? None of these details are mentioned anywhere," he pointed out.

The government also claims it is giving priority to providing houses to the homeless and creating self-employment opportunities for unemployed youth. But when the budget is examined in its entirety, "it appears to be filled with fabricated stories and false claims," he charged.

Pointing out that the state government often claimed that when Karnataka contributes Rs 100 in taxes to the central government, only Rs 15 is returned to the state, Vijayendra said, the state government claims Karnataka sends Rs 4.3 lakh crore to the Centre through sources such as income tax, GST, and others. However, this includes both direct and indirect taxes.

"I agree that Karnataka is the second-highest tax-paying state after Maharashtra. But Bengaluru only houses the headquarters of major companies such as Infosys and Wipro. These companies operate across the entire country and internationally. Even though their headquarters are in Bengaluru, they provide services to customers across various states." "Therefore, not all the tax generated should be considered as originating solely from Karnataka," he argued.

"When people repeatedly claim that only Rs 15 comes back for every Rs 100 contributed, they do not take into account the expenditure made by the central government on sectors such as defence, national highways, and railways. These factors are often ignored in such arguments," he added. PTI KSU SA