CM accuses Centre for giving ‘false information’ to SC
Siddaramaiah said that the Union government has submitted false information to the apex court, attempting to deceive it about the rightful drought relief that was due to the state.
Hours after the Attorney General and the Solicitor General told the Supreme Court that they would get instructions from the Centre on the matter of drought relief, chief minister Siddaramaiah said that the Union government has submitted false information to the apex court, attempting to deceive it about the rightful drought relief that was due to the state.
A statement from the office of the Chief Minister issued on Monday said that faced with continued delays by the Centre in providing the rightful drought relief to the state, the government was compelled to seek justice from the SC. “During today’s hearing, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta argued that the Karnataka Government is to blame for the delay in drought relief, suggesting a political motive behind it. This is highly condemnable,” read the statement.
“For drought relief, they (Karnataka) could have talked to us (Union Government). We know the timing of these petitions. Lordships may not issue notice, it also becomes news,” said the Solicitor General.
Reacting to his remarks, the CM said, “As I have repeatedly said over the past 2-3 months, our government had submitted to the Centre in September 2023 itself, a memorandum including the details of the losses and the expected relief amount for the drought. After that, I and Revenue Minister Krishna Byre Gowda met with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and home minister Amit Shah in Delhi to appeal.”
Despite this, Siddaramaiah said, the Union finance minister and the home minister continue to falsely claim that the Karnataka government has been late in submitting its request. “Today (Monday), the Union Government repeated this lie before the Supreme Court as well,” he pointed out.
The court, taking into account the statement made by the Solicitor General, has postponed the case for two weeks. The Centre is required to prepare its response before the next hearing.
“Our fight against the injustice done by the Union government in the provision of drought relief will continue not just on the streets but also in the courts. We will expose the lies of the Union Government one by one and reveal its true face to the people of the state,” the CM’s statement added.
Explaining the “unintentional delay”, union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday said that the Karnataka government submitted a memorandum in October 2023. The Inter-Ministerial Central Team then conducted an assessment and sent it to the agriculture ministry in November.
The ministry submitted its report to the sub-committee of the national executive committee and placed it before the high-level committee. “But on March 28, 2024, a letter was sent to the ECI to get approval in context of the model code of conduct (MCC) for convening the HLC meeting and we’re awaiting the approval,” she said.
The state unit of the BJP has not issued any statement on the allegations raised by Siddaramaiah, however, it attacked the Congress alleging financial mismanagement. “CM Salaramaiah is ready to liquidate Karnataka. CM Siddaramaiah’s government is again borrowing ₹10,000 crore in the April-June quarter. It is clear that the government’s one-line agenda is to bankrupt Karnataka. The Congress is rapping Kannadigas in a spiral of debt like no other,” the party said in a statement.
