Responding to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visits to Karnataka for Lok Sabha elections campaigning, Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Minister Priyank Kharge has said that Mr. Modi must speak of his government’s contribution to the State instead of simply visiting as a tourist.
“Mr. Modi must speak of what he has given to the State. He must respond to our concerns about injustice in tax devolution. He must answer why he has not released drought relief,” Mr. Kharge said.
He was speaking to media representatives at N.V. College Grounds in Kalaburagi on Thursday after taking stock of preparations for Friday’s public meeting to be addressed by All India Congress Committee president Mallikarjun Kharge, Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar and Congress Kalaburagi Lok Sabha constituency candidate Radhakrishna Doddamani.
Asked about the justification by BJP leaders for not releasing drought relief to the State, Mr. Kharge said that the Supreme Court itself has reprimanded the Union government by asking it why States should frequently approach the top court to get their Constitutionally guaranteed rights.
“The Chief Minister met the Prime Minister, the Union Home Minister and the Union Finance Minister and sought drought relief much earlier based on the drought report prepared by the Union government’s team,” he said.
“Now, the Supreme Court itself has reprimanded the Union government asking it why the latter is creating a situation where States have been forced to approach the top court to get their Constitutionally guaranteed rights. Now, the Union Government has sought two weeks to file its response. It has exposed the BJP’s lies,” Mr. Kharge claimed.
To a question, Mr. Kharge said that the Union Home Minister, who was supposed to convene a NDRF [National Disaster Response Force] meeting to discuss drought and take decisions on the release of relief, has not done it.
“Ms. Sitharaman and Revenue Minister Krishna Byre Gowda were invited for a public debate in Bengaluru on drought relief and tax devolution issues. Ms. Sitharaman did not turn up. If she had so much confidence in the Modi government, why did she avoid the face-to-face debate? She, instead, addressed the media directly,” he said.
When asked about his party’s condition in the Kalaburagi Lok Sabha segment, Mr. Kharge said that his party candidate Radhakrishna Doddamani will comfortably win against the BJP’s candidate Umesh Jadhav.
“No work has been done by the Union government in Kalaburagi constituency. Many development projects initiated by Mallikarjun Kharge during his Ministerial tenure in the United Progressive Alliance government were not implemented by the BJP government. People of Kalaburagi now want to put the constituency back on the track of development by voting for the Congress,” he claimed.
