K’taka: BJP to hold ‘funeral procession’ protests against financial ‘mismanagement’

Bengaluru, Sep 23 (IANS) The Karnataka Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will hold protests at all district headquarters on September 24, featuring a “funeral procession of the bankrupt government”, to condemn what state BJP president B.Y. Vijayendra described as the Congress government’s alleged financial mismanagement and failure to provide relief to farmers and fund development works.

Announcing the protest at a press conference at Vidhana Soudha, Vijayendra said the government had failed to manage taxpayers’ money properly and had accumulated dues owed to farmers, contractors, transport corporations, health workers, guest teachers and other sections.

He said the BJP would hold the protests to highlight the state’s deteriorating financial position and demand that the government issue a white paper on its finances and waive farmers’ loans.

Vijayendra said the BJP would stage protests at all district headquarters on Thursday against what he described as the state’s financial bankruptcy, the difficulties faced by farmers and the government’s failure to clear pending payments.

“The government must place the complete truth about Karnataka’s financial condition before the people and issue a white paper. It must immediately provide relief to farmers. Otherwise, the BJP’s agitation will intensify,” Vijayendra warned.

He referred to a letter written by the Finance Department to the Chief Minister on September 17, which highlighted the seriousness of the state’s financial situation. “The Finance Department has warned that it would be difficult to provide funds for new schemes and that the state’s borrowing capacity has already been largely utilised,” he said.

He claimed that with pending expenditure on already approved works exceeding Rs 2 lakh crore, funding new schemes could require cuts to allocations for other departments or delay ongoing works.

“This is not an ordinary letter. It is a serious warning about the state’s financial position from the government’s own department. Therefore, the government must immediately issue a white paper on the state’s financial condition,” Vijayendra said.

Vijayendra said the BJP had conducted the “Ballari Chalo” padayatra from Lingasugur to Ballari to highlight farmers’ problems. He demanded that the government not merely discuss their difficulties in the Assembly but also provide relief.

He demanded a farm loan waiver of up to Rs 5 lakh, compensation of Rs 50,000 per hectare and uninterrupted three-phase power supply for seven to eight hours every day.

“Farmers are taking to the streets today because of the electricity shortage. If necessary, the government should purchase power from outside and ensure adequate supply to farmers,” he said.

Vijayendra also demanded that pending milk incentives owed to dairy farmers be paid immediately and that the incentive be increased from the current Rs 5 to Rs 8.

He said farmers in north Karnataka were also awaiting payment for maize procured at the Minimum Support Price. “In Raichur district alone, information indicates that around Rs 150 crore is pending. Such dues should be cleared immediately,” he said.

Vijayendra questioned the government’s decision to announce new schemes when it was allegedly struggling to clear existing liabilities. “On one hand, there is no money to provide relief to farmers. On the other, thousands of crores of rupees are due to contractors. Payments to transport corporations have not been made, and dues remain pending to employees and beneficiaries of various departments. How feasible is it to announce new schemes in such a situation?” he asked.

He referred to the government’s recent announcement of several projects, including a Rs 10,000-crore rural road development programme. He sought clarity on how these schemes would be funded when the Finance Department had warned about financial pressure.

Vijayendra cited former CM B.S. Yediyurappa’s tenure, saying immediate disaster relief, including Rs 5 lakh for those who lost homes, was provided from state funds without waiting for the Centre’s assistance.

He said merely writing to the Centre during a severe drought was insufficient and urged the state government to take responsibility for farmers’ problems.

He demanded farmer relief, loan waivers, adequate electricity supply and clearance of pending dues to dairy farmers.

–IANS

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