The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : BJP ‘gimmicks’ will not mislead the people, says Siddaramaiah

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BJP ‘gimmicks’ will not mislead the people, says Siddaramaiah

Special Correspondent

‘Yeddyurappa failed miserably as Finance Minister’

Siddaramaiah

BANGALORE: Projecting B.S. Yeddyurappa as its chief ministerial candidate is going to be a big disadvantage for the Bharatiya Janata Party, according to Congress Election Campaign Committee chairman Siddaramaiah.

“Mr. Yeddyurappa failed miserably as Finance Minister, contrary to his claims that he has done wonders. Projecting him as the chief ministerial candidate will be the main disadvantage for the BJP in the polls,” Mr. Siddaramaiah said while participating in a meet-the-press programme organised by the Press Club of Bangalore and the Bangalore Reporters’ Guild here on Saturday.

Shortfall

Mr. Siddaramaiah said that the tax collection growth rate had reduced from 29 per cent when he (Siddaramaiah) demitted office as Finance Minister to 17 per cent under Mr. Yeddyurappa. The shortfall in tax collection in this financial year was Rs. 500 crore in commercial taxes and Rs. 600 crore in stamp duty, Mr. Siddaramaiah claimed.

However, the revenue shortage was “covered up” because of the unexpected increase in excise revenue due to the ban on arrack, Mr. Siddaramaiah said. “People are forced to shun arrack and drink costly liquor to increase the excise revenue.” The State would have been in serious financial problems but for this unexpected increase in excise revenue, he said.

Mr. Siddaramaiah took exception to Mr. Yeddyurappa blaming Governor Rameshwar Thakur for the slack implementation of various budgetary schemes as well as distribution of ration cards to families living below the poverty line.

He termed the recent protest of senior citizens organised by the BJP against the delay in the implementation of the ‘Sandhya Suraksha’ old-age pension scheme “politically motivated”. “If Mr. Yeddyurappa himself could not give BPL cards to all the eligible families though he was in power for 20 months, how can the Governor do it in just two to three months,” he wondered.

‘Under an illusion’

Such “gimmicks” would not mislead the people, he said. “He is under an illusion in trying to project himself as the harbinger of development. But his budget was neither development oriented, nor pro-poor or pro-farmer,” Mr. Siddaramaiah said and declared that the Congress would place these issues before the people during its election campaign.

Denying allegations that there were differences among senior Congress leaders, Mr. Siddaramaiah said there were no major differences that could be detrimental to the party.

“However, differences of opinion are bound to be there among the leaders of any democratic political party. Only a feudal party will not have such differences,” he said.

Collective leadership

To a query, he said Congress president Sonia Gandhi would decide the next Chief Minister of the party. He pointed out that the party did not project any leader as its chief ministerial candidate before the polls. “We will face the elections under a collective leadership,” he reiterated.

He was critical of the former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda and alleged that he had reduced the Janata Dal (Secular) to a party of “father and sons”. He termed the JD(S) opportunistic and the BJP communal.

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