The Congress party in Karnataka on Wednesday termed the economic stimulus package announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a "bogus package", saying it is the latest addition to the “bundle of lies” from the Centre like doubling farmers' income or bringing back the black money parked abroad.
Congress workers led by Siddaramaiah and D.K. Shivakumar stage protest in front of the Gandhi statue in Vidhana Soudha
Both the Centre and the Karnataka government have failed to contain the COVID-19 pandemic, alleged leader of opposition Siddaramaiah who, along with KPCC chief D.K. Shivakumar, lead a protest against the BJP's "anti-people policies” in Bengaluru.
The party staged the protest in front of the Gandhi statue in Vidhana Soudha, demanding the immediate withdrawal of the APMC ordinance and the amendment to the labour law. It also opposed the postponement of the gram panchayat elections in the state.
"We cooperated with the BJP government for so long in its efforts to contain the pandemic. But we can no longer be mute spectators to the injustice being meted out to the migrants, farmers and the underprivileged. The economic package worth Rs 20 lakh crore is a hogwash as the actual grant and subsidy is about Rs 2 lakh crore. The rest is only announcements like loan guarantee, which will not help the people get any money in their hand," said Shivakumar.
He alleged that the amendment to Agricultural Produce Marketing Committee Act is anti-farmer and would benefit only the Fortune companies. “The new labour law does not protect the rights of the labour class. The Centre is yielding to the international lobby," Shivakumar said.
Siddaramaiah called the Yediyurappa regime in the state as a 'dead government'. “It diluted the lockdown norms and is responsible for the spread of coronavirus in the state. The government failed to quarantine the people coming from outside," he alleged.
The Congress leaders dubbed the state government's decision to postpone the gram panchayat polls by six months as a "ploy" to nominate the BJP party workers to the local bodies.
"If the panchayat polls need to be deferred due to COVID, the government must extend the tenure of the existing members by six months," demanded Shivakumar, adding that he would go on a statewide tour to hear the grievances of the people.
"The poor are left to fend for themselves. We want to stand with the workers, migrants, farmers, the employers and the employees. The government should have given grants to electricity companies and MSMEs to bail them out, and not just bank guarantee," added Shivakumar.
