BENGALURU : Bharatya Janta Party (BJP) Karnataka MPs protested in front of the Gandhi statue within Parliament premises over the alleged misuse of funds by the Karnataka government on Wednesday.
Expressing their discontent, BJP MP Lehar Singh accused the Congress of corruption and mismanagement, alleging internal disputes within the party.
Singh asserted, “Congress is involved in corruption and is not running the administration properly, they have come here because of internal disputes. DK Shivakumar wanted to become the Chief Minister but could not do so. Due to internal conflict, they have come here against Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, as he could not become the Chief Minister.”
Iranna Kadadi, another BJP MP, voiced concerns over the alleged misallocation of funds by the Karnataka Congress government. He claimed, “No MLA is receiving funds for development; they are attempting to mislead the public, and we are protesting against that.”
Member of Parliament Jaggesh, echoing similar sentiments of his colleague, criticized the Karnataka government for receiving ample facilities from the central government while accusing them of not getting anything.
“They are putting blame on the central government and staging these dramas. We want to tell people the truth,” stated Jaggesh.
This comes amid Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah’s staging a rally at Jantar Mantar against the central government’s economic disparities. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said that their main intention is to protect the interests of the state and Kannadigas.
“We are staging this protest in New Delhi to make sure the central government has all the funds that it has to give to us. We expect the government will listen to our protest, and our main intention is to protect the interests of the state and Kannadigas,” the Chief Minister said.
Karnataka Deputy CM DK Shivakumar said “We will try to meet them, explain and give our representation and keep our demands. We want our share, justice and our taxes to be given as per the proper ratio. We are confident that we are going to get justice. Even they know that injustice has been done…We are asking for justice for Karnataka.”
Earlier, Karnataka minister Satish Jarkiholi on Wednesday said that the Congress government in the southern state is holding a planned protest here in the national capital as over Rs 1 lakh crore due to them from the Centre.
Also, Karnataka Minister KH Muniyappa expressed his discontent with the central government’s perceived neglect of the state following the drought situation and tax devolution and said that “protest is their last resort.”
Muniyappa told ANI on Wednesday that the Congress-led ruling government in Karnataka has made all efforts to get money from the Center for the drought situation, but they haven’t released the money. (ANI)