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In the Union Budget 2024-25, the Finance Minister has spared close to nothing for Karnataka, said Chief Minister Siddaramaiah while addressing a press conference on Tuesday.
He added that apart from Andhra Pradesh and Bihar, none of the other States have received special grants.
“The Centre has five union ministers from Karnataka - HD Kumaraswamy, V Somanna, Nirmala Sitharaman, Shobha Karandlaje, and Prahlad Joshi. Despite that, few provisions have been granted to either railway or industrial sector,” said Siddaramaiah, talking to the media.
The CM added that if Modi has to remain the prime minister, he needs Andhra Pradesh and Bihar’s support. According to him, three states - Karnataka, Telangana, and Mizoram, had requested special grants. “Nirmala has been elected to the Rajya Sabha from Karnataka, so we expected her to restore justice to the state. But she has disappointed our people.”
Deputy CM DK Shivkumar also expressed his disappointment, calling the budget a ‘100 per cent BJP Bachao Budget’. He stated on social media platform X, “We had faith in the finance minister, but that’s all they have done to save the government by blaming Andhra Pradesh and Bihar. As usual, the central BJP government continues to act as a stepmother to Karnataka. It is especially unfair to Congress-ruled states. Funds have not been released for any pending major projects in the state. In one line, the current budget is a big betrayal to Kannadigas.”
Talking to reporters while protesting against the ‘harassment’ by ED and CBI today, he said, “No INDIA alliance governments nor opposition parties got anything, including Karnataka.”
Union Minister for Steel and Heavy Industries HD Kumaraswamy, on the other hand, congratulated the finance minister on X, saying, “It is a visionary and far-reaching budget. Emphasis was placed on agriculture, industry, infrastructure, and job creation.” Adding that the budget aims to create four crore jobs, he said “The budget includes initiatives to financially empower small and medium-scale industries, which will play a crucial role in generating employment.”
Political analyst Harish Ramaswamy said, “The budget is not very favourable to Karnataka nor promising on the whole. Except they had some agendas to fulfill in a coalition partnership because the sustenance and continuity of the government are important to them at this stage. Otherwise, it was not strikingly different from the routine budget. The special grants to Andhra and Bihar were expected.”
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