BJP spreading misinformation about my house: Akhilesh
Lucknow, June 13 : Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Wednesday accused the Uttar Pradesh government of spreading misinformation about the house he vacated and also targeted the media for coming under pressure to show concocted pictures about alleged damage done at his residence he occupied till last week.
The former Chief Minister alleged that senior IAS official Mrityunjay Narayan and the OSD to Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Abhishek, visited the residence before it was given to the Estates Department and threw it open to the media as part of a conspiracy.
Questioning the motive behind these high-profile visits, a visibly upset Akhilesh Yadav warned the officials not to stoop so low as government changes.
Rubbishing charges that he had even ripped off taps from the sprawling bungalow, he held two steel taps and dared the government to show him the inventory. Even one item was missing, he would immediately pay for it.
"Things like taps are generally stolen by drug addicts... If our government comes to power again, we will find out who these drug addicts among the bureaucracy were," he said, his voice choking with anger.
Akhilesh Yadav has been accused by the government of badly damaging the residence he was forced to vacate following a Supreme Court directive.
After vacating his sprawling house, on which officials say the previous government spent Rs 42 crore, the authorities have alleged widespread damage, including ripping up of floorings, tiles as well as electrical and plumbing fittings.
The government has ordered a probe into the issue and a cross checking of the inventory of the bungalow is underway.
Governor Ram Naik has also taken cognizance of the matter and asked the state government to thoroughly probe the issue and ensure that the damages to the house, built at public expenses, are recovered.
The 45-year-old Akhilesh Yadav also targeted the Governor but without naming him and said people who were sleeping otherwise had woken up now.
The Samajwadi Party chief claimed that the BJP had been badly hit by back-to-back defeats in elections in Kairana, Phulpur, Noorpur and Gorakhpur and so it was resorting to a misinformation campaign against him.
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Criticism of PM Modi, repeated mentions of guarantees to be highlights of K’taka Budget: LoP Ashoka
Bengaluru (PTI): Leader of Opposition in the Karnataka Assembly R Ashoka on Thursday took a dig at CM Siddaramaiah ahead of the state Budget presentation, claiming that the government is expected to borrow Rs 1.15 lakh crore and is likely to impose fresh taxes on the people.
He said the Budget would have nothing new, adding that its highlights would be criticism of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and repeated mentions of the five guarantee schemes ('Shakti', 'Gruha Lakshmi', 'Gruha Jyoti, 'Yuva Nidhi' and 'Anna Bhagya').
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, who also holds the Finance portfolio, is scheduled to present the 2026–27 Budget on March 6. This will be his record 17th budget.
“Siddaramaiah-led Congress government’s budget will be presented tomorrow. While Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman reduced the tax burden in the Union Budget, Siddaramaiah is known for imposing taxes on people. He imposes about four taxes a month and has already introduced 36 taxes, and is now looking for ways to impose more,” Ashoka said.
Speaking to reporters, he said the Congress had promised people before coming to power that the guarantee schemes would be implemented without imposing any burden on them.
“By the end of the chief minister’s term, the state’s total debt will probably exceed Rs 6 lakh crore. The government has already breached financial discipline. Siddaramaiah and his government are somehow managing the situation,” Ashoka claimed, adding that his borrowings as CM equal those of 12 or 13 former chief ministers combined.
Stating that the Budget should create higher revenue sources, ensure that no burden is placed on people, and take the state away from debt, the opposition leader said this could be ensured only by a “clever and intelligent finance minister.”
“Anyone can run a government by pushing the state into debt,” he said, accusing Siddaramaiah of “increasing the state’s debt and failing to meet the expectations of the people.”
Highlighting that Siddaramaiah blames the previous BJP government for everything, Ashoka said Basavaraj Bommai, the chief minister during the previous BJP government, had presented a “surplus budget,” without excessive borrowings.
“Despite having the opportunity to borrow more while staying within the parameters of financial discipline, he (Bommai) did not do so, as it would burden the people,” he said, accusing Siddaramaiah of borrowing crores of rupees every year.
“I feel that this time too, he will take a loan of Rs 1.15 lakh crore,” he claimed.
The BJP leader said he had written to the CM requesting an allocation of Rs 15,000 crore annually for the development of backward taluks, as recommended by the High Power Committee on Redressal of Regional Imbalance (HPCRRI), chaired by economist Prof M Govinda Rao.
Claiming that the government appears “inactive” due to internal rifts, Ashoka pointed to an ongoing power struggle between factions led by Siddaramaiah and Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar over the CM’s post.
“Amid all this, we cannot expect anything new from this Budget. The CM will repeatedly speak about the guarantee schemes and target the central government and PM Modi. Criticising Modi and repeated mentions of the five guarantee schemes will be the highlight of this Budget. Other than that, there will be nothing new,” he added.
He also dismissed the CM's claim that the government had achieved 90 per cent of the promises made in the previous Budget. “The fact is that not even 9 per cent has been achieved. I have evidence for it,” he said.
Ashoka further alleged that the government had also failed in tax collection, achieving only 48 per cent of the target, and had released less than 40 per cent of the allocated funds to some departments.
