It is not just the BJP, but the Congress MLAs too are unhappy with the first budget of the JD(S)-Congress government, tabled by Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy on Thursday.
While the BJP dubbed it “hogwash”, alleging the farm loan waiver of Rs 34,000 crore is both “ill-conceived” and “misleading” as it waives only the crop loans, it is the “regional disparity” in the budget that seems to have triggered a row as both the BJP and the Congress legislators were up in arms against the JD(S) for “appeasing only its votebanks”.
The BJP MLAs from coastal Karnataka region staged a protest in front of the Gandhi statue in the Vidhaha Soudha on Friday against the government largesse, favouring only the Old Mysore region and JD(S) voters, some senior Congress leaders alleged that the government had neglected the north Karnataka region and the minorities.
“The government has made allocation only to Hassan, Ramanagara and Mysuru districts—the JD(S) strongholds—and has neglected the coastal and Malnad region. They only want to come and offer prayers at the famous temples in the coastal region but have no plans to boost tourism in these districts. The areca growers and fishermen are under distress, but there is no bail-out plan for them,” said Karkala MLA Sunil Kumar.
Senior BJP leaders dubbed it “Hassan budget” and “Anna-Thamma budget” (budget of the siblings), alleging that it had schemes only for Hassan (worth Rs 250 crore)—the district represented by JD(S) patriarch and MP H.D. Deve Gowda and Holenarsipura MLA H.D. Revanna.
Even as the BJP threatened to launch a statewide agitation, demanding total farm loan waiver and “fair distribution” of development funds across all districts, many Congress MLAs expressed disappointment over the chief minister keeping even the coordination committee, chaired by former chief minister Siddaramaiah, in the dark about the contentious fuel price hike.
The fuel price hike of Rs 1.14 per litre on petrol and Rs 1.12 on diesel announced by Kumaraswamy caused much embarrassment to the Congress as the party had locked horns with the Modi government over petrol and diesel price hike. In fact, AICC chief Rahul Gandhi had thrown a “fuel challenge” at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, demanding a reduction in fuel prices. Now, with the state government hiking the fuel prices, the grand old party appears to have lost a crucial weapon to take on the Centre ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.
The Congress MLAs were upset with the “unilateral” decision of the coalition partner as the party members of the coordination committee claimed that they were not in the know of the fuel price hike and the issue was not discussed in the meeting.
Meanwhile, senior Congress leader H.K. Patil (who was is already unhappy over being denied a cabinet berth and also the KPCC chief's post) registered protest, alleging neglect of north Karnataka region in the budget.
In separate letters addressed to Siddaramaiah and Kumaraswamy, Patil demanded new schemes for the region he represents. “The minorities in the state have played a crucial role in the state by securing the victory of secular parties. They were also a major force behind the Congress winning so many seats. Yet, the present budget seems to have neglected the community by not announcing any new scheme, programme or special package. The subsequent governments in the state, especially during the Congress rule in 1999-2004, Congress-JD(S) coalition in 2004-2006 and the Congress government in 2013-2018, have given impetus to the development of north Karnataka region to remove the regional disparities. The current JD(S)-Congress coalition should make no exception and announce special schemes for the region in this budget,” said Patil, who has also hailed the farm loan waiver as “revolutionary” and “pro-farmer”.
In his letter to Kumaraswamy, the former rural development and panchayat raj minister pointed out, “The minorities stood by the secular parties in the assembly elections at a time when the political situation in the country is witnessing a sea change. The current budget should focus on new schemes for the welfare of minorities. Likewise, the people of north Karnataka are disappointed too and new programmes should be announced for the region prior to the budget approval.”
Kumaraswamy defended his budget saying all the schemes mentioned in the budget tabled in February this year (by Siddaramaiah) was incorporated into the new one. “All the concerns have been addressed in the comprehensive budget document. Most programmes are already mentioned in the previous budget and there is no question of neglecting any community or region. Similarly, the fuel price hike was inevitable to fund the schemes. In spite of the hike, the fuel price is the lowest in Karnataka compared to other southern states,” said Kumaraswamy, adding that he was ready for a debate in the house on the issue.