Support those who fulfil promise of development: CM Siddaramaiah

Mandya (Karnataka) [India], March 10 (ANI): Asking people to vote for Congress in the Lok Sabha polls, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Sunday said that the development of the state is possible only if the people support the party that "delivers on its promises."
He was addressing the public after distributing the benefits of various schemes to the beneficiaries of the Congress party's Guarantee Schemes. The event was organised by the Mandya District Administration and Zilla Panchayat.
"The people of the state have blessed us beyond our expectations in the last election. They made us win 136 seats in the state. The people of Karnataka have made a wise decision," Siddaramaiah said.
He said that the people of Mandya also made the right decision even though they were given false promises and misled, he said.
"On the day of taking the oath, we decided to implement 5 guarantees in the Cabinet meeting. Shakti scheme has been launched where 3.50 crore women of the state can travel in government buses for free," Siddaramaiah said.
He said that 50 to 60 lakh women are getting the benefit of this scheme.
Rs 600 crore has been released to the agriculture department for crop insurance and another Rs 800 crore will be released. The state government has provided Rs 631 crore to 33.25 lakh farmers as crop loss compensation of Rs 2000 each, he said.
"Of late, JDS has a lot of love for BJP. The BJP is critical of our guarantees. They are working to mislead the farmers without telling the truth to them. We are on your side. Mandya district will be fully developed. 500 crores are being provided to the district. Earlier, when I was Chief Minister, emphasis was given to irrigation. The number of people dependent on agriculture has increased and we have invested in development. No matter what anyone says, people must make the ones who work win," the CM said.
He said that 4.57 lakh women in Mandya have travelled for free.
"After coming to power by giving false promises, the previous government completely forgot the people. But we kept our promises. BJP came to power from the back door claiming to be pro-farmer and pro-poor, but did not fulfil any of its promises," the Chief Minister said.
He claimed that when Kumaraswamy was the Chief Minister, BJP's Yediyurappa took 17 MLAs and came to power through the back door through Operation Kamala.
Siddaramaiah said that former Prime Minister Deve Gowda, who did not join the "communalists", is now supporting them. The CM appealed to the people to defeat the unholy alliance of BJP and JDS and let the Congress candidates win in the forthcoming general elections.
The Chief Minister said that under the Annabhagya scheme, the government intended to provide 5 kg of rice along with 5 kg from central government to make the state hunger-free.
"The central government did not cooperate. So instead of 5 kg, we are giving Rs 170. Annabhagya financial assistance of Rs 166 crore has been given to 4,38,705 beneficiaries in the district," Siddaramaiah said. (ANI)