‘More of a political CM than development CM’: Basavaraj Bommai slams Siddaramiah

HAVERI:Bharatiya Janata Party leader Basavaraj Bommai on Saturday accused Chief Minister Siddaramiah of “focusing more on attacking the Centre rather than focusing on development”.

Basavaraj Bommai, a former Chief Minister, referred to Siddaramiah’s remarks on GST reforms campaign by the Centre and said these are benefitting people.

“It has become a habit for Siddaramaiah to blame the Centre for everything. The Centre has given whatever is due. He is trying to tell that he wants to go to the Court for the GST compensation. The whole nation knows that this concession (GST reforms) is going to the people and all the states are also members of the GST Council and they have passed it. Still, they want to go to the Court. There is a political design behind this. He wants to politicise everything, including the sharing of funds. He is more of a political CM than a development CM,” he said.

Siddaramaiah said that the central government’s decision to simplify the Goods and Services Tax (GST) in the wake of the Bihar elections will cause an estimated loss of Rs 15,000 crore to the state annually.

“The central government implemented the GST in 2017 and fixed the GST rate. Will the central government, which has collected higher rates for the last eight years, return that money? The Centre is busy patting itself on the back by reducing the GST rate it had increased itself,” he said.

“As recommended by the commission, we were not given Rs 5,490 crore, Rs 3,000 crore for lake development, Rs 3,000 crore for road construction, and Rs 5,000 crore for the Bhadra Upper River Project. A total of Rs 17,000 crore. The grant that was supposed to come has been misappropriated. Like last time, this time too, if necessary, they will seek court assistance and get central funding,” he added. (ANI)