K’taka CM Siddaramaiah gripped by 'Modi phobia', says Bommai

Bengaluru: Karnataka's former Chief Minister and senior BJP leader Basavaraj Bommai on Thursday slammed CM Siddaramaiah over the financial condition of the state and alleged that the latter was "gripped by Prime Minister Narendra Modi phobia".

Speaking to reporters here, Bommai said, "Prime Minister Modi has been giving good governance and implemented several welfare schemes. Modi is all set to become the PM for the third consecutive time. Unable to digest this, Siddaramaiah had been making baseless allegations against him.

"The CM's son and former MLA Dr Yatindra Siddaramaiah had said that his father would continue in the same post if the Congress party would win more seats. That means, Siddaramaiah was scared of losing the CM's post if the party wins less seats. For this reason, whenever Modi visits Karnataka, the Congress leaders release fake documents to mislead people."

Bommai held Siddaramaiah responsible for the decrease in the state's fund from 4.7 per cent to 3.6 per cent and for not explaining the real financial position to the 15th Finance Commission.

"When the UPA government was in power at the Centre did it give flood relief to the then BJP government?" Bommai questioned.

"The previous BJP government had distributed Rs 2,500 crore flood relief amount to farmers without waiting for the funds from the Government of India. The people voted for the Congress party to give a good governance but the party was derailing the state economy in the name of guarantee schemes which would cost the government a whopping Rs 30,000 crore.

"But no money has been reserved for this purpose. Funds have not been released for development and the MLAs have openly said about it. To pacify those legislators, the government has promised Rs 25 crore for each MLA. When I was the CM, even the then opposition Congress MLAs had been given Rs 25 crore each. The same yardstick must be applied. The MLAs in the current dispensation are the unluckiest lot."