KALABURAGI: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Saturday formally launched the Gruha Jyothi scheme from the home turf of Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge. The Gruha Jyothi scheme was one of the poll guarantees of the Congress under which households will get up to 200 units of power for free.
At a massive event, the CM launched the scheme by handing out zero bills to 10 beneficiaries. Siddaramaiah, along with Kharge, Deputy CM D K Shivakumar, Energy Minister K J George and Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Minister Priyank Kharge, switched on the light of a model house set up on the stage to mark the rollout.
Speaking after inaugurating the scheme, the CM termed it a historic day and said, “We have been able to light up the lives of citizens. The BJP is jealous of our five guarantees”.
Hitting out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who recently said that Karnataka will go bankrupt if all the five Congress guarantees are implemented, Siddaramaiah questioned, “Has the state become bankrupt now? If the country is bankrupt, it is because of the BJP administration. If they have the courage, let them implement our schemes across the country”, he thundered.
Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar said the Congress has always come out with welfare schemes for the poor and the working class. “We have implemented our five guarantees and we have walked the talk. The relationship between the Congress and the people is like that between God and his devotees”, he said. “We have implemented schemes as per the needs of the people”, he added.
Energy Minister K J George said, “During the Bharat Jodo Yatra, we came to know about the problems of the comon people. Even the middle class people in the state are facing problems. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had advised to strengthen the hands of those in need and we announced the five guaranteees. So far, 1.42 crore people have registered for the Gruha Jyothi scheme and there is no last date for registration”.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said the BJP government in the state had no schemes for the poor. “Whenever the Congress has come to power, we have launched new schemes for the poor. The five guarantees are being hailed across the country. We did not make any bogus promises, but when Narendra Modi assumed power as Prime Minister, he had said he will deposit Rs 15 lakh in every individual’s account. How many people have got the money?” he questioned.
Speaking to media persons after the event, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said the government will implement all the promises made in the manifesto and recalled that the previous Congress government had fulfilled 145 of teh 160 promises.
“Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the state will go bankrupt, but we have been able to maintain fiscal discipline even after implementing the five guarantees. The PM is blocking all the schemes of the state and the BJP did injustice to the people by looting the state and their maladministration. When we were in power earlier, we had constructed 16 lakh houses for the poor, but the BJP government built only eight lakh houses”, the CM said.
Blaming the Modi government at the Centre and the previous BJP government in the state for the state’s poor financial condition, Siddaramaiah pointed fingers at PM Modi for rise in prices of essential commodities. “The PM talks about the Gujarat model, but we have implemented the Karnataka model”, he said.