CM Siddaramaiah calls BJP neech', asks people not to vote for it in the Lok Sabha election
Madhugiri (K'taka) (PTI): Accusing the Centre of being anti-poor and pro-capitalists, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Wednesday asked people to ensure that not a single vote goes to the BJP in the Lok Sabha elections next year.
Calling the BJP neech' (despicable), he said the ruling party at the Centre is also anti-humanity, as it denied supply of rice to Karnataka to supply additional five kg rice to each beneficiary under the Anna Bhagya scheme of the state government.
"When I was the CM during my previous tenure, I was giving seven kg rice free but the previous BJP government reduced it to four kg and five kg. During the assembly election, I promised that we will give an additional five kg more," Siddaramaiah said during a ceremony to celebrate the completion of 10 years of Ksheera Bhagya scheme (under which students of government and aided schools are given milk five days a week) at Madhugiri in Tumakuru district.
The chief minister said that when the Congress government came to power, it wrote to the Food Corporation of India (FCI) to supply rice for the Anna Bhagya scheme. The FCI too assured the state government that it provide the rice, he said.
"We trust them (FCI) but the Centre denied us rice. Is BJP pro-poor? They are not. We did not ask rice for free. We were ready to pay for it. When we asked for rice, they agreed and then backtracked. You have to decide how neech' (despicable) they are. They are anti-poor. They don't have humanity," Siddaramaiah charged.
Explaining the reason behind the Centre backtracking from supplying rice to Karnataka, the chief minister said, "Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said that if free rice is given to the poor people, those states will go bankrupt. We told him that we will implement the five guarantees and we will not let the state go bankrupt."
The CM also explained that out of the five poll guarantees, four have been implemented in the state. They are 'Shakti' offering free bus rides to women in non-luxury government buses, 'Gruha Lakshmi' providing Rs 2,000 to the women head of families, 'Gruha Jyothi' promising up to 200 units of free electricity to each household and 'Anna Bhagya' offering 10 kg rice to BPL families.
Explaining the five guarantees, Siddaramaiah asked people if they would vote for the BJP in the Lok Sabha elections. "Not a single vote should go to them (BJP) because they had said these schemes will make the state bankrupt. If we give freebies to the poor, then the state will go bankrupt? What if the money is given to Ambani and Adani? Will the country or poor prosper?" he sought to know.
Siddaramaiah stressed that while Ambani and Adani grew rich, the poor remained poor.
Celebrating the completion of 10 years of the 'Ksheera Bhagya' scheme offering milk to 54.68 lakh government school children everyday, the chief minister said it is an internationally acclaimed scheme.
According to him, milk is a complete food with maximum calcium and people of every age can drink it. Hence, the government decided to purchase milk from milk producers and give it to the children, he said.
Lauding 'Ksheera Bhagya', Siddaramaiah said the state government will spend more than Rs 1,000 crore on the scheme.
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EC-TMC meet ends on bitter note; CEC asks TMC delegation to 'get lost', MP accused of 'shouting'
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New Delhi (PTI): The meeting between a Trinamool Congress delegation and the full bench of the Election Commission on Wednesday culminated on an acrimonious note, with the TMC saying the panel's chief asked them to "get lost" at the end of the seven-minute meeting, while the EC accused them of "shouting".
After the meeting, TMC's Rajya Sabha MP Derek O'Brien told mediapersons that they handed over letters from West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar, and also apprised him of specific instances of poll officials having links with the BJP.
"Then he said, 'Get lost'. We have done eight to nine meetings with the Election Commission. Apart from the CEC, none of the other election commissioners spoke," O'Brien said.
"While we were walking out, one of my colleagues congratulated Gyanesh Kumar for being the only CEC to have notices moved in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha for his removal," O'Brien MP said.
Meanwhile, sources in the Election Commission said the poll panel chief gave a "straight talk" to TMC leaders.
They accused O'Brien of shouting at the election commissioners and alleged that he asked the CEC not to speak.
The EC sources further said the elections in West Bengal would be "fear-free, violence-free, intimidation-free, and inducement-free."
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