Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar has said that the State government has fulfilled its promises made before the Assembly elections by implementing its five guarantee schemes.
“I and Chief Minister Siddaramaiah distributed guarantee cards to people, giving them the assurance of implementing these schemes and we did what we promised after coming to power,” he added.
He was addressing a gathering after inaugurating a conference of beneficiaries of guarantee schemes and laying the foundation stone for development works under various departments in Raichur on Thursday.
Mr. Shivakumar recalled a situation that forced the Congress to announce guarantee schemes and said that “myself and Mr. Siddaramaiah promised to implement the women empowerment scheme — Gruha Lakshmi — in front of Priyanka Gandhi and also, handed over to her a guarantee cheque then.”
“You people gave us strength through your mandate and we implemented the schemes amid criticism by the Opposition parties. Now, people across the State are getting benefits,” Mr. Shivakumar added.
Remembering the efforts made to bring in Article 371(J) for Hyderabad-Karnataka (now Kalyan Karnataka) region, the Deputy Chief Minister said that the veteran leader from this region, Mallikarjun Kharge, made hectic efforts to bring in the Constitutional amendment giving special status for the region.
“The BJP government at the Centre rejected the proposal. When the Congress-led government came to power, Mr. Kharge convinced all members of the House and brought in Article 371(J). As a result, people are getting benefits. Now, the same Kharge is leading the Congress at the national level. Therefore, the people of Kalyan Karnataka region should repay him by electing a larger number of candidates from the Congress in the next parliamentary elections,” he said.
Taking a jibe at the BJP, Mr. Shivakumar said that the saffron party is planning to field a candidate in the parliamentary elections who had accepted defeat against the Congress candidate in the Assembly elections.
Mr. Shivakumar said that the BJP makes false promises before elections and asked the gathering whether ₹15 lakh has come to their bank accounts and if they are enjoying Acche Din.
Mr. Shivakumar, meanwhile, inaugurated a project to fill Ganekal Lake with water from the Krishna river at a cost of ₹211 crore. He said that he will discuss with Andhra Pradesh and Telangana the issue of constructing a balancing reservoir in Navali in Koppal district after the parliamentary elections.
The State government has already sent a proposal to the Centre seeking to establish the All India Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS) in Raichur district, he added.
Ministers Sharan Prakash Patil and N.S. Boseraju, MLAs Basanagouda Daddal, Basanagouda Turvihal, Hampayya Nayak, Tukaram, MLC Sharanagouda Bayyapur, Deputy Commissioner Chandrashekhar Nayak, Chief Executive Officer of Zilla Panchayat Rahul Pandve Tukaram, A. Vasanth Kumar and others were present.
