‘Contractors are committing suicide in Karnataka…’: BJP’s Basangouda Patil Yatnal slams Congress govt

BENGALURU: After Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar blamed the previous Bharatiya Janata Party government for pending bills of contractors in the state, BJP MLA Basangouda Patil Yatnal on Tuesday said that the contractors in the state are in a “bad state”, and are “committing suicide.”

“Contractors are in a very bad state right now in Karnataka and are committing suicide. The government is not paying the Contractors. They are supporting Andhra’s Contractors,” the BJP MLA told ANI.

Yatnal also attacked the Karnataka government, saying that no guarantees are being fulfilled by the state government.

“Budget will stay merely a book… No guarantees are being fulfilled by the state government… The economic state of Karnataka is very bad and hence we don’t have any expectation from the budget,” he said.

This comes after DK Shivakumar blamed the previous BJP government for the issue of the large backlog of unpaid contractor bills in the state.

“The association had met with him, urging the government to clear the outstanding payments,” the Deputy CM had said.

Shivakumar acknowledged the challenge, noting that during the previous BJP government, significant work worth over Rs 1.25 lakh crore was initiated, but the state’s budget allocation for capital work is only Rs 16,000 crore.

The Karnataka Legislature session began on Monday, with Speaker UT Khader, Council Chairman Basavaraj Horatti, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, and Deputy CM DK Shivakumar extending a warm welcome to Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot upon his arrival at Vidhana Soudha to participate in the proceedings.

Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah previously said that the previous BJP government did not achieve any progress; they just “looted,” adding that the Congress government implemented guarantee schemes along with development programmes.

On Monday, the BJP protested outside the assembly against the rise in the prices of electricity and milk and the MUDA scam. (ANI)