Vijayapura: Claiming that neither he nor Former Water Resources Minister M. B. Patil collected commission from contractors to clear the bill during the Congress Government, Former Chief Minister, Siddaramaiah has declared to take political retirement if anybody could prove that they collected commission.
Speaking at the mega ‘Guarantee Card’ programme of the party at Babaleshwar Assembly segment on Thursday February 23, he said that while he gave clean and corruption free Government, the ruling BJP Government led by Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai is marred in corruption.
“During our Government, we were clearing all the bills of the contractors without collecting even a paise from the contractors. But today, the contractors themselves have been accusing the Bommai Government of collecting 40% commission to clear the bill,” he alleged.
Siddaramaiah said that despite the Contractors’ Association writing a letter to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself, the former did not even seek clarification from the Bommai Government.
Referring to the irrigation projects, he promised to earmark Rs. 2 Lakh Crore in five years to complete all the irrigation projects of the State if voted to power. “Before coming to power in 2013, we had promised to allocate Rs. 50,000 Crore in five years for irrigation projects, but in reality, we spent around Rs. 56,000 Crore in five years. On the other hand, the BJP which promised to spend around Rs. 1.5 Lakh Crore for irrigation, could not spend even Rs. 50,000 Crore. This is the difference between the Congress and the BJP,” he said.
Stating that because of the lumpy virus in cattle, the dairy industry has hit hard, Siddaramaiah said that the milk production has come down by 18 Lakh Litres a day because of the virus. The Government is facing a loss of Rs. 6.66 Crore everyday because of the death of cattle due to lumpy, but the Government neither offered any financial aid to the farmers nor launched any vaccination programme to prevent the spreading of virus,” he said.
“The Party which has been announcing many welfare programmes such as 200 unit free power and Rs. 2,000 for head women of the family if voted to power, also announced to distribute ten kilograms of rice under PDS from the present five kilograms if voted to power.
On the occasion, he praised the works of M. B. Patil as Water Resources Minister, and said that he was one of the best Ministers of his Government.
“If you want similar Ministers and good governance, then vote for the Congress in the coming elections and throw out the corrupt BJP Government,” he said.
Earlier, Siddaramaiah and other leaders were honoured with garland specially made of raisins.
Former Minister, H. C. Mahadevarappa, Zamir Ahmed Khan, MLAs Yeshwantraigouda Patil, Leaders Abdul Hamid Mushrif, Raju Algur, Rafiq Tapal, and Sharanappa Sunagar were present.
