There is no truth in the charge that the Centre is discriminating against State, says Iranna Kadadi

Belagavi Rajya Sabha member urges Congress-led State government to release White Paper on finances and grants received.

Rajya Sabha member and BJP leader Iranna Kadadi has urged the Congress-led State government to release White Paper on its finances, including the grants that it received from the Union government.

“There is no truth in the allegation that the Centre is discriminating against the State. We think that the Congress government is squandering its resources. Before it points its fingers at us, it should release White Paper about the State’s finances for the last 20 years, including the grants received from the Centre and the taxes raised and shared,” he said.

He was speaking at a meeting of party workers at Mahaveer Bhavan in Belagavi on Monday.

He read out from a list and said that the Union government is bearing the major portion of food subsidy, Ujwala gas to 3.46 lakh people and other welfare projects, apart from financing several development projects, including railway projects.

MLC and BJP State unit secretary D.S. Arun said that the State government is hiding the fact that Karnataka has received three times more money from the Centre than earlier. The international image of the country has changed since Prime Minister Narendra Modi took over. It is very different from the UPA regime. He asked the State government to come clean with facts on various Centrally-funded schemes like Jal Jeevan Mission, Amrut Yojana, Smart City, PM Awas Yojana, irrigation projects and others and how the money is being used.

He said that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has given the hard-earned money of Kannadigas to the Congress high command to be spent on Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh elections.

MLA Balachandra Jarakiholi said that the BJP will get majority seats, even though it has lost the last Assembly elections. He later told reporters that he is not interested in fighting the Lok Sabha polls.