Siddaramaiah faults Guv speech lauding Yediyurappa govt's Covid achievements

Bengaluru: The State Congress on Thursday raised objection to Governor Vajubhai R. Vala's speech in the joint Legislative session, lauding the State government's "achievements" during the pandemic.

Speaking to the media, Leader of Opposition Siddaramaiah said the performance of the BJP government was zero hence the Governor's praise was unjustified.

"Any government should have a vision. The State's financial situation and irrigation projects were not mentioned in the speech. It is one and a half years since the BJP came to power. The Governor's speech does not say anything about the planning, programs, previews and foresight of this period. Reason, the government's achievement is zero. This is a speech that is far from the truth," he said.

"Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa has not passed the test by any yardstick. He has misused the Governor to mislead the public and hide the deficiencies of the government. As a responsible opposition, it is our duty to let the people of Karnataka know the truth. The CM missed an opportunity to add in the Governor's speech about his efforts to topple the coalition govt, hijack opposition MLAs, circus to save his government, corruption of his sons & ministers, and his apathy towards people of Karnataka," Siddaramaiah said.

The Congress lashed out at the BJP for failing to provide relief to flood victims.

"In 2019-20, the government estimated Rs 35,000 crore damages but the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) released only Rs 1,652 crore. Even the CM did not do enough. In 2020-21, Total flood loss was assessed at Rs 23,941 crore by the BJP government but only Rs 577 crore have been received from the Centre till now. What were the efforts by the CM to provide relief to the victims?" Siddaramaiah questioned the government.

Raising the pitch against the State government, the former CM asserted that the pandemic provided an opportunity to the BJP government to show compassion towards people but it found an opportunity to make money through murky deals in procurement of Covid equipment and medicines.

"The BJP government took away the food from poor people. It closed down Indira Canteens. It is now planning to charge for rice given under Anna Bhagya. Ksheera Bhagya has stopped depriving children of nutrition," he said.

"This government has not held a session in Belgaum so far. We used to have a ten-day session there every year when the Congress was in power. Those who said they would develop Uttar Karnataka are not ready to hold the session. This is a betrayal of the people of North Karnataka. We have thus symbolically protested during the Governor's speech. The session should take place at Belgaum at least once a year. This is our desire," the former CM said.

The joint session was the first session of the Karnataka legislature, this year.