CM Siddaramaiah accuses BJP of playing hate politics over rice issue

BENGALURU: Even as the state scrambled to arrange rice meant for public distribution under the Anna Bhagya scheme, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Monday blamed the BJP for the prevailing situation .

“The state has no rice stock at present. The BJP is not ready to give rice to the state though we are ready to pay for it. Does the BJP have any respect? The BJP is playing hate politics over the rice issue. We have promised to distribute 10 kg of free rice from July 1, and we will try to arrange stocks by that time”, the CM said.

Speaking about purchasing rice from other states, Siddaramaiah said, “There is no rice available in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Punjab. But we will get 1.5 lakh metric tons from Chhattisgarh. Initially, the Food Corporation of India (FCI) had agreed to supply rice, but then said no to it. We don’t want it for free, we are ready to pay for it”.

“BJP is playing politics over the rice issue. Its leaders are making statements expressing concern for the poor, but it is doing politics in rice. Two kg of millet (ragi) can be given only for six months as there is not enough stock. Two kg of millet can be given in Old Mysore and two kg of wheat in North Karnataka. Where will we get the remaining three kg of rice?” the CM questioned.

“Now we have approached the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Ltd. (NAFED), National Cooperative Consumers’ Federation of India Limited (NCCF) and Kendriya Bhandar and asked for the quotation. We are waiting to see how much rice these organisations will give”, the CM added.

The CM also distributed cheques of Rs 25 lakh as compensation to families of victims, those who died in communal riots when the BJP government was in power. “The BJP has not given compensation to everyone. Muslims also died in that conflict. The government should treat all religions equally. I had proposed in the House that Muslims victims should also be compensated”, he said.

He further said, “BJP gave compensation of Rs 25 lakh each only to the families of slain Harsha and Praveen Nettaru, but did not give compensation to the six bereaved families of Masood, Fazeel, Abdul Jalil, Idris Pasha, Sameer and Deepak Rao”.

“Former CM Bommai neither met their families nor expressed condolences. BJP’s Harsha and Praveen Nettaru family members were given jobs. It is right that they have been given compensation and a job for their livelihood. But the BJP did not extend a helping hand to minority community victims. We will not discriminate. Our government has given compensation to the families of these six people and we will give jobs to one member of each of these six families”, he said.

Siddaramaiah said, “We will ensure the investigation is transparent and the guilty are punished. Henceforth, the government will put an end to communal riots and moral policing. We will not allow anyone to take the law into their hands. Our government will protect everyone. It is our responsibility too. For us, Hindu, Muslim, Jain, Buddhist, and Christian are all the same”, he added.