Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah invites KCR to his state to see Congress guarantees being implemented
Hyderabad, Nov 26: Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Sunday invited his Telangana counterpart K Chandrasekhar Rao to visit his state to see how the five guarantee schemes of the Congress government have been implemented -- dismissing Rao's allegations that the party did not fulfil its poll promises.
Expressing confidence that the Congress would form the next government in Telangana and implement the six poll guarantees given to the state's people, he said KCR (K Chandrasekhar Rao) is going to lose power in the assembly elections.
Siddaramaiah said he saw media reports about the allegations made by Chandrasekhar Rao, his son K T Rama Rao and some BJP leaders that the Congress government in Karnataka has not implemented the five guarantees it gave to the people ahead of the May assembly polls that it won there.
He said these allegations are being made in view of the elections by the rival parties.
"The allegations made by opposition parties, these are all false allegations. The BRS party is lying and Chandrasekhar Rao is lying. Because he knows that he is going to lose the power (in the assembly elections)," Siddaramaiah told reporters here.
"When I came here earlier (as part of campaigning), I gave an open invitation to Chandrasekhar Rao to come to Karnataka and discuss with us and verify the documents. But, he did not come. Even today I will ask Chandrasekhar Rao: Please come to Karnataka and don't make such allegations unnecessarily for election purposes," Siddaramaiah said.
"You can verify...I don't know why they are telling lies. I can understand if Chandrasekhar Rao makes statement that the guarantees are not being implemented because he is facing the elections -- and for the purpose of elections he is saying lies and his son is also telling lie. I don't know why others are telling lies," he said.
Siddaramaiah said he was sure that the Congress will win the Telangana assembly elections.
"Congress will, 100 per cent, come to power in Telangana and all the six guarantees that have been promised will be implemented. Nobody should doubt it," he said.
On the Congress's five guarantees in Karnataka, he said the first guarantee 'Shakthi' scheme, providing free bus travel for women, wasimplemented in June and it has logged over 100 crore rides recently.
On the 'Anna Bhagya' scheme which was to provide 10 kg rice for free, Siddaramaiah said the Food Corporation of India refused to supply the additional five kg rice under "pressure" from the Centre and hence his government was paying cash instead of the five kg rice promised to each beneficiary through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) since July.
Siddaramaiah further said the 'Gruha Jyothi' scheme, which promises 200 units of free electricity to households, started in July.
Regarding 'Gruha Lakshmi' scheme, which provides Rs 2,000 per month to the women head of the families, he said the scheme started in August and 1.14 crore beneficiaries have been covered so far and registration is continuing.
Siddaramaiah said the fifth guarantee 'Yuva Nidhi' scheme, (Rs 3,000 every month for unemployed graduate youth and Rs 1,500 for diploma holders) offering unemployment allowances, will commence in January 2024.
These schemes require about Rs 38,000 crore for this year and already budget allocation has been made, he said.
There is no question of cheating the people at all, he said adding that the Congress party never cheated the people. "Whatever promises Congress party made in its manifesto and also the five guarantees, we are implementing and we are going to implement," he said.
He said all the developmental works are also going on and there is no dearth of funds to carry them out.
Dismissing the charge that Karnataka would become bankrupt due to the guarantee schemes, Siddaramaiah said, "The economy of Karnataka is very good and sound and we are implementing all the promises made to the people of Karnataka".
When asked about senior BJP leader and former Karnataka CM B S Yediyurappa's accusation that Congress was deceiving the people by not implementing its five pre-poll guarantees after coming to power, Siddaramaiah said he (Yediyurappa) is "frustrated and making false statements".
Reacting to a comment on reports that Karnataka farmers were staging protests in Telangana, he said, "They are not Karnataka farmers, I know that. No farmer from Karnataka came to Telangana; why will they come and protest here?".
Responding to another query, he said "We have fulfilled five guarantees in the first phase and also 76 promises. A manifesto is always for five years and at once (in one go) we cannot implement all the promises".
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“Bleeding on the road, I begged for help but no one came”: Bengaluru woman recounts husband’s death
Bengaluru: A woman in Bengaluru has shared a painful account of how her husband died after they were repeatedly denied medical help and ignored by passersby during a medical emergency, NDTV reported.
The victim, 34-year-old Venkataramanan, a garage mechanic from Balaji Nagar, developed severe chest pain around 3.30 am. His wife immediately took him on a motorcycle in search of medical help.
"He complained about chest pain, and we went to the first hospital. However, the doctor was not on duty. At the second hospital, we were told he had a stroke and to go to another hospital. When we called for ambulance services, they did not respond properly. Humanity failed, but we did our bit by donating his eye." NDTV quoted his wife as saying.
According to the report, after being turned away twice, the couple met with an accident on the road. CCTV footage later showed the woman, covered in blood, pleading with folded hands as vehicles passed by, but no one stopped to help.
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The wait ended after several minutes when a cab driver stopped and rushed Venkataramanan to a nearby hospital. Doctors there declared him dead on arrival.
As per the report, the family decided to donate Venkataramanan’s eyes, giving sight to others even in death.
Venkataraman's mother, who had lost her last surviving child, had no words to express herself: "I have no words. I do not know what to say. My son is gone."
"The government should understand a health emergency. My daughter is left with two children. Who will look after them?" asked his mother-in-law. His wife, mother, and two children, a five-year-old son and an 18-month-old daughter now survive Venkataramanan.
The incident has once again raised serious questions about emergency healthcare access, ambulance response, and public apathy in the city.
