Haveri: “After June 4, the state government must start counting. The longevity of the incumbent government is very short. There are chances of another Assembly election in the State,” said the former chief minister and Gadag-Haveri Lok Sabha constituency BJP candidate Basavaraj Bommai.
Addressing a campaign in Rattihalli and other villages in Hirekerur Assembly constituency on Wednesday, he said the poor were distressed due to drought, and crops dried. Animals don’t have water or fodder. The present government never went to the rescue of the farmers. When floods damaged houses last year, the then BJP government distributed Rs 10,000 each for water entering the houses and Rs 5,000 for house collapse.
Poor people have built pucca houses. Such works were possible only if the government was alive. Yediyurappa did this despite strong opposition from officials. “In our regime, there were floods and now it is drought under the Congress rule. We distributed Rs 15,000 per hectare, and the incumbent government has given Rs 2000 per hectare, which hasn’t reached all. The people voted for the Congress party to do their job but it is pointing fingers at the center to cover up its mistakes,” he said.
The state treasury is empty and there is no money to implement irrigation projects. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has borrowed a loan of Rs 1.5 lakh crore and it was repaid out of the tax collected from people. The CM has pushed the state to bankruptcy and the state would face hard times in the coming days. Corruption was everywhere in this government, he charged.
He said the Upper Tunga scheme was implemented by the previous government and it has irrigated one lakh acres in Haveri, Ranebennur, Hirekerur, and Byadgi taluks. “The Congress party talks of social justice but it was the BJP government which hiked the quota for SCs/STs and this has increased 3200 engineering seats and 4013 SC students have got the medical seats. The promotion file for the SC/ST employees is ready but the government has kept it pending. The previous BJP government launched several social welfare schemes,” he said.
