Bengaluru: On Monday, the state unit of the congress party dared central BJP leaders to a public debate on release of central funds to the state after the Narendra Modi-led government came to power.

AICC spokesperson and Karnataka food and civil supplies minister Dinesh Gundu Rao on Monday alleged that Modi at a public rally in Bengaluru last week gave misleading figures on the release of central funds to Karnataka. Modi had claimed Karnataka would get Rs 1.86 lakh crore for the next five years, which he claimed was 197% more than the allocation during UPA’s regime.

However, Rao reeled out statistics to show that the Centre has reduced the plan grant to Karnataka by over Rs 8,000 crore, resulting in a shortage of over Rs 2,512 crore compared to previous years. The total allocation for central schemes in 2014-15 was to the tune of Rs 16, 626 crore, but in 2015-16, the grants will be Rs 8,146, he added.

Rao claimed the Centre has reduced the grant to social and education sectors, forcing the state to chip in. “It has reduced the grant to the mid-day meal scheme, Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, national Krishi Vikasa scheme, Integrated Child Development Scheme, Nirmal Bharat scheme, Rural Development and Panchayat Raj sector and drinking water scheme,” he said.

CM Siddaramaiah, too, had complained about this at a joint conference of chief ministers and chief justices of high courts convened by Modi in Delhi on Sunday.