Guarantees: Siddaramaiah accuses Maharashtra BJP of 'spreading lies,' warns of legal action
Mumbai/Bengaluru, Nov 16: Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Saturday said he was considering taking legal action against the BJP’s Maharashtra unit alleging it 'spread lies' about the five guarantees implemented by his government.
Addressing a press conference in Mangalwedha in Maharashtra, Siddaramaiah said: “They (BJP) have given a false advertisement in order to mislead the people of Maharashtra." Furthermore, he said he was considering filing a suit against the Maharashtra BJP for spreading lies about the guarantee schemes and its implementation. The Chief Minister said all the five guarantees have been effectively implemented in Karnataka benefiting crores of people.
The CM, his deputy D K Shivakumar and a host of Karnataka ministers, who are campaigning in Maharashtra for elections are reaching out to the people on the five guarantees being implemented in their state.
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These five guarantees are 'Gruha Jyoti' offering up 200 units of free electricity for household connection, 'Gruha Lakshmi' providing Rs 2,000 to the women heads of BPL families, 'Shakti' fare-free bus travel scheme for women, 'Yuva Nidhi' offering Rs 3,000 and Rs 1,500 to unemployed graduates and diploma holders respectively and 'Anna Bhagya' food security scheme for BPL families.
Siddaramaiah asked the Maharashtra leaders to visit Karnataka and see for themselves if the guarantees have been implemented or not.
Attacking the BJP-led Centre for ‘injustice’ to states in the devolution of taxes, the Chief Minister said Karnataka every year pays more than Rs 4.5 lakh crore as central tax and in return gets only Rs 60,000 crore.
"According to my information, Maharashtra is paying Rs 8.78 lakh crore, whereas the Maharashtra government is getting Rs 1.30 lakh crore. That means the Government of India is causing injustice to Karnataka and Maharashtra though Maharashtra is number one and Karnataka is number two in the country in tax collection," the Chief Minister said.
According to him, Maharashtra government was getting 15 paise for each rupee it pays, while Karnataka gets about 13 to 14 paise out of every rupee. Also, the CM said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had claimed that the five guarantee schemes could not be implemented and if at all implemented, the state governments doing so will go bankrupt. While this was the case, the BJP has ironically come up with guarantees in Jharkhand and Maharashtra.
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Young woman from MP who shot to fame during Kumbh found to be minor, case registered against husband
Khargone (MP) (PTI): The National Commission for Scheduled Tribes on Friday confirmed that a young woman from Madhya Pradesh who became famous due to her viral videos during the 2025 Maha Kumbh has been found to be a minor after an inquiry.
Citing the findings of an inquiry panel set up by the commission, local BJP leaders alleged that her interfaith marriage in Kerala last month was a case of "love Jihad", and sought legal action.
While the panel had submitted its report in March, ST commission chairman Antar Singh Arya confirmed its findings to the PTI on Friday.
A case for alleged kidnapping and offences under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act has already been registered against her husband, a Muslim man, at Maheshwar on the basis of the inquiry findings, police said.
The girl gained national fame after her videos while selling garlands and rudraksha at the Maha Kumbh went viral on social media and also earned her a role in a film.
The National Commission for Scheduled Tribes set up an inquiry panel after receiving a complaint on March 17 from Pratham Dubey, a resident of Uttar Pradesh, that she was a minor and was being exploited.
Maheshwar BJP MLA Rajkumar Mev and BJP mandal president Vikram Patel, armed with documents, told reporters on Friday that her marriage in Kerala was a case of "love Jihad" and she should be brought back home.
'Love jihad' is a term used by right-wing groups to allege a conspiracy by Muslim men to lure Hindu women into marriage to convert them to Islam.
Police said an investigation is underway, and further action would be taken accordingly.
The girl, who belongs to the nomadic Pardhi community, got married at a temple in Kerala in March. The interfaith marriage drew angry reactions from rightwing Hindu groups.
Her family members and film director Sanoj Mishra -- who had offered her a film role after she became famous -- too alleged that it was 'love Jihad'.
As per the inquiry conducted by the ST commission, records at the Maheshwar government hospital showed the woman's date of birth as December 30, 2009 which meant she was 16 years and two months old at the time of marriage, said Dubey, the complainant.
On a complaint filed by her father, police registered a case against the girl's husband at Maheshwar police station on March 25 for alleged kidnapping and under the POCSO Act and the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
Police sources said that a separate case was also registered on March 24 under section 137(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (taking a minor from lawful custody of guardian without their consent) based on the the commission's findings.
