BJP didn't do anything to get drought relief to Karnataka from Centre: DK Shivakumar
Bengaluru: Accusing the BJP in Karnataka of not doing anything to get drought relief for the state from the Centre, Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar on Sunday took a dig at the saffron party for targeting the Congress government, despite its best efforts to provide relief to the affected, along with implementing the guarantee schemes.
He also invited the BJP and JD(S) leaders to join the state Congress' protest in Delhi in the coming days, against "injustice" to Karnataka by the Union government, with respect to tax devolution and grants-in-aid, in the interests of Karnataka.
"It has been 10 years since the Manmohan Singh government went, they (BJP) should have sense. It is okay to have people without knowledge or education, but people have to be sensible. People have given you the power in the country, you also had a double engine government (BJP governments both at the Centre and in the state), but what did you do is the question," Shivakumar told reporters.
He was responding to a question on the opposition BJP demanding release of records on how much Karnataka got from the Union government towards drought and development works between 2004 and 2014 when Manmohan Singh was the Prime Minister and the Congress-led UPA was in power.
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Pointing out that despite having 27 MPs (including one independent and one from JD(S)) of the total of 28 from Karnataka, the Deputy CM said the BJP could not get drought relief released to the state by holding a meeting with the Central government run by their party.
"Apart from doing whatever is necessary for drinking water supply, for the first time the Siddaramaiah government has ensured that the affected farmers got Rs 2,000 to their bank accounts as relief. The BJP is unable to digest it," he said.
Claiming that the Centre had done injustice to Karnataka, Shivakumar further said instead of setting that right, by demanding records on funds released to the state during the UPA rule, the BJP seems to be accepting that injustice is happening during NDA rule.
"We, the Congress lost the election, but you (the BJP) won with over 300 seats...Let's leave everything, in the last Union budget, Nirmala Sitharaman had said Rs 5,300 crore will be given to the state's Upper Bhadra irrigation project" and sought to know if even a single rupee had been released for the same. "Let them (BJP) say," the KPCC chief, who is the state's irrigation Minister added.
All Congress lawmakers (also MPs) from the state, including Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, will protest in New Delhi on February 7, against the "injustice" to Karnataka by the Union government when it comes to tax devolution and grants-in-aid.
"There is no other way, we have to raise our voice in the interest of the state. I will request both the BJP and JD(S) to come and participate in it, in the interest of the state," Shivakumar said.
Responding to BJP state president B Y Vijayendra's recent comments that people will not fall for the "gimmicky guarantees" of the Congress party as they know that the Modi guarantee is the best, Shivakumar said he (Vijayendra) is new to the post and is speaking new things and added that he didn't want to discourage him.
"He (Vijayendra) has won a lottery and has become the state president in seven months (after the BJP's defeat in the Assembly polls), it is like a share from his father's (B S Yediyurappa) earnings...Remember what Modi said about Congress guarantees earlier? But, now taking a cue from Congress' guarantees, terms like Modi guarantees are being used by the BJP for campaign," he added.
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SRH knocked out of play-off race after washout against DC
Hyderabad, May 5 (PTI): Sunrisers Hyderabad were eliminated from the play-offs race after their Indian Premier League fixture against Delhi Capitals was called off due to heavy rain following the first innings here on Monday.
Pat Cummins-led SRH pace attack ran through the DC batting line-up to limit the visitors to 133/7 before rain dashed the slim hopes of the home team. Both teams shared a point each for the abandoned game.
With 13 points from 11 games, DC remain in contention for a top-four spot.
After reaching the final last year, it was a season to forget for SRH who could not replicate their ballistic run of 2024 with the bat. Having collected only seven points from 11 matches, SRH will now be playing for pride.
Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals were already eliminated from the competition.
Before rain lashed the Rajiv Gandhi Stadium, the hosts put up a clinical effort with the ball and were on course for only their fourth win of the season until rain arrived, creating large puddles of water on the outfield. The match officials decided to call off the game at 11.10 pm local time.
The shot selection of Delhi Capitals' batters contributed to their downfall after being put in to bat.
They were left reeling at 29 for five in 7.1 overs with captain Cummins causing the maximum damage.
Cummins had Karun Nair caught behind on the very first ball of the match with a good length ball around the off-stump. It was a rather loose shot from the DC batter first up.
Faf du Plessis departed in Cummins' following over, a failed attempt to put the relentless Australian away for a boundary. Not getting any loose ball from Cummins, the South Africa went for a pull on the charge only to be caught by the wicket-keeper.
Cummins' third victim was Abhishek Porel who was caught after mistiming a flick.
Harshal Patel and Jaydev Unadkat then got into the act by dismissing Axar Patel and K L Rahul respectively. The in-form Rahul went for a drive on the up but ended up edging it to Ishan Kishan behind the stumps.
It was one way traffic until Tristian Stubbs (41 not out off 36) and impact player Ashutosh Sharma (41 off 26) combined to take DC to a respectable total. They shared a 66-run stand off 45 balls.
Sharma was able to break the shackles by depositing leg-spinner Zeeshan Ansari for a couple of sixes over long-on in the 15th over.
Stubbs did not look as comfortable as Sharma in the middle but managed to provide much needed support to the latter. The South African could find only four boundaries with the last one coming off the final ball of the innings.
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— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) May 5, 2025
Match 55 between @SunRisers and @DelhiCapitals has been called off due to wet outfield.
Both teams share a point each.
Scorecard ▶ https://t.co/1MkIwk4VNE
#TATAIPL | #SRHvDC pic.twitter.com/VnVZWjsjGJ
