The story so far: The Centre’s refusal to supply additional quantities of rice to Karnataka for the newly elected government’s flagship Anna Bhagya scheme has escalated into a political slugfest, with the Congress accusing the Narendra Modi-led government of “sabotaging” its programme to pursue “politics of hate.” In line with one of the five pre-poll guarantees of the Congress, the scheme seeks to provide 10kg of rice per person in families holding BPL and Antyodaya cards, beyond the 5 kg allocated by the Centre to the poorest of the poor under the National Food Security Act.
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has claimed that the Centre “denied” rice to Karnataka despite having adequate stock “to create problem and scuttle the scheme.”
“They have adequate rice, which is lakhs of tonnes. They are giving it to private people, they are auctioning it, but they are not giving to the states,” the CM said.
