Union Minister of State for External Affairs Meenakshi Lekhi on Friday, April 28, argued in favour of a “double engine” government for taking Karnataka on the path of progress.
Addressing a press conference in Mysuru, Ms. Lekhi said that Central Government schemes can be better implemented if the State Governments are run by the same party as the one at the Centre. The State Governments can prove to be impediments in the implementation of the Central Government schemes if run by different parties.
She cited the example of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Government in Delhi and alleged that the Delhi Government was not implementing the Central Government schemes like Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojane for providing affordable housing and the Ayushman Bharat scheme, which provides health insurance coverage to low-income groups.
In contrast, she said Karnataka was implementing the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojane as well as the Ayushman Bharat scheme with 1.3 crore people benefiting from the latter scheme.
While the Delhi Government was providing to be an impediment in implementing the Central Government schemes, people of Karnataka, where the BJP Government was in power, were benefiting, she said.
Price hike
When her attention was drawn to issues like price rise, Ms. Lekhi said there was no price rise.
She said “melting of the global economy” amid “international de dollarisation” was making an impact on every part of the world. But, India, which was part of “fragile five” during the Congress-led regime, now figured among the top five countries in terms of economy. “That showcases how strong our parameters are”, she said.
Corruption
Reacting to charges of corruption against the BJP Government in the State, Ms. Lekhi alleged that the Congress leaders themselves including Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and D.K. Shivakumar were out on bail on charges of corruption.
She claimed that the Government of Karnataka had worked very hard and the people of Karnataka had benefited with both State Government and Centre run by the same party.
Ms. Lekhi also rejected the Opposition claims of anti-incumbency against the State Government. “Whatever the Opposition says does not become the primordial truth,” she said while predicting a rout for the Opposition Congress in the upcoming elections.
