Brushing aside BJP criticism over the guarantee schemes of the ruling Congress, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah asserted that his government would definitely implement all the five guarantees without compromising on development of Karnataka.
“Prime Minister Narendra Modi has, in a recent public meeting, said that implementation of guarantees would bankrupt Karnataka. On another occasion, he added that the schemes would affect development works in Karnataka. I would like to tell him that we are already implementing the schemes, and the required funds have already been allocated for the current financial year. Has Karnataka become bankrupt? I would also like to declare that we will continue to implement all other development works,” Mr. Siddaramaiah said after formally launching the Gruha Jyothi scheme, one of the five guarantees of the Congress, at a public meeting in Kalaburagi on August 5.
The Chief Minister launched the scheme by switching on a light in a model of a house. He also handed over zero electricity bills to 10 selected beneficiaries to symbolically mark the beginning of the scheme, in the presence of All India Congress Committee president and Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha M. Mallikarjun Kharge, Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar, Energy Minister K.J. George, Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Minister Priyank Kharge, Medical Education Minister Sharan Prakash Patil and his other cabinet colleagues.
