Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah slams BJP for calling his budget 'Halal'
Bengaluru, Mar 7 (PTI): Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Friday slammed the opposition BJP for calling the state budget a 'Halal Budget' and 'Pakistan Budget'.
The BJP termed it "appeasement" and the CM said the saffron party's statement was a reflection of their "rotten mindset".
In a post on ‘X’ with a photograph of Siddaramaiah in skull cap, the BJP said: "Scam CM @siddaramaiah in Karnataka presents a Halal Budget—appeasement at its peak!"
Addressing reporters after presenting his 16th budget, the chief minister said minorities do not mean Muslims only, but there are Buddhists, Jains, Sikhs and Christians in that category.
He also clarified that Rs 250 crore has been earmarked for Christians as well.
"The size of the budget is Rs 4.09 lakh crore and if we give Rs 4,500 crore to the minorities, the BJP calls it ‘Halal Budget’. Their statement shows their rotten mindset," Siddaramaiah said.
When a reporter asked him about the allocation for the Other Backward Castes, who constitute 56 per cent of the population, Siddaramaiah said Rs 4,300 crore has been earmarked for them. Along with that Rs 42,018 crore has been reserved for the Scheduled Caste Sub-Plan and Tribal Sub-Plan (SCSP-TSP), he said.
"We have made huge allocations for SCSP-TSP. Let the BJP, which ruled the Centre for 17 years, show that the Centre or the BJP ruled states have formulated SCSP-TSP provisions," the CM said.
He charged that the BJP leaders in Karnataka lack the courage to ask the Centre to replicate the way Karnataka has introduced SCSP-TSP. "But they do come to tell us that we are giving money to the Muslims. What moral rights they have to question us?" the chief minister sought to know.
He said the BJP had displayed its disrespect for secularism by calling the Karnataka budget a 'Halal Budget' and 'Pakistan Budget'. "This is a country of all the communities, which the BJP should know," Siddaramaiah said.
The chief minister said the budget he presented has far-sightedness and gives an equality, social and economic growth oriented budget. We follow the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) Act.
He said the size of the budget in 2024-25 was Rs 3.71 lakh crore budget, which has gone up to Rs 4,09,549 crore – an increase of Rs 38,166 crore. The growth rate of the budget is 10.3 per cent.
"This year (2024-25) the borrowings were Rs 1,05,246 crore, but next year's borrowing will be Rs 1,16,000 crore, which means we are borrowing Rs 10,000 crore," he pointed out.
The chief minister explained that, as per the FRBM Act, borrowing should be less than 25 per cent of the Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) for a strong fiscal health.
"Karnataka’s borrowings are at 24.91 per cent. We are well within provisions of the FRBM Act. Financial deficit should not be more than three per cent as per FRBMA. We are at 2.95 per cent," Siddaramaiah said.
He said there are three parameters to gauge fiscal discipline – first, the state should be revenue surplus, fiscal deficit should not be more than three per cent, and the third is that borrowings of the state should not be more than 25 per cent of the GSDP.
"We are following the fiscal discipline and we are offering programmes for poor, women, weaker section, minorities, workers and farmers," Siddaramaiah said.
"We are financially strong, we are following the financial discipline and we are as per the provisions of the FRBM Act. Also, we have also kept the promises we made," Siddaramaiah said.
The chief minister also said that in 2024-25, the state had earmarked Rs 52,009 crore for the five guarantees, but in the next fiscal Rs 51,034 crore has been allocated.
"We reserved less money for the guarantees compared to previous year because we were paying cash to the beneficiaries of the Anna Bhagya guarantee at Rs 34 per kg every month in place of food grains, but this year we got rice from FCI at Rs 22 per kg," he explained.
The five guarantees were the key pre-poll promises of the Congress government. They are ‘Gruha Jyothi’ offering 200 units electricity free to every household, ‘Gruha Lakshmi’ scheme promising Rs 2,000 to every woman head of a family and ‘Anna Bhagya’ offering 10 kg rice to every member of the BPL family a month.
The 'Yuva Nidhi' promises Rs 3,000 dole to unemployed graduates and Rs 1,500 to unemployed diploma holders for two years (in the 18-25 age-group) and ‘Shakti’ scheme permits free travel for Karnataka women to travel within the state in government non-luxury buses.
Siddaramaiah said, "The BJP has said that the state would go bankrupt by implementing the five guarantees. Has it happened? Do they know the meaning of bankruptcy?”
He said the BJP is now replicating the Karnataka model of guarantees in Delhi, Haryana, MP, Maharashtra and Rajasthan.
According to the chief minister, the annual expenditure on the guarantees per constituency is Rs 232 crore on an average.
"Isn’t a development if people are given money? Won’t it spur economic activities if the purchasing capacity of people increases?” he argued.
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Tension grips Bangladesh after unrest over uprising leader’s death; vandalism at several places
Dhaka (PTI): Bangladesh interim government on Friday urged citizens to resist violence by “a few fringe elements” as the body of a prominent July Uprising leader, who died in Singapore six days after he was shot, reached the capital.
Various parts of the country were rocked Thursday night by attacks and vandalism, including stone-hurling at the Assistant Indian High Commissioner's residence in Chattogram, after Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus confirmed Sharif Osman Hadi's death in a televised address to the nation.
There were, however, no reports of fresh violence since Friday morning.
Hadi, one of the leaders who had taken part in the student-led protests last year – termed as July Uprising - and a candidate for the scheduled February 12 general elections, died while undergoing treatment at a Singapore hospital six days after he was shot by unidentified men.
Body of Hadi, who was the spokesperson of the Inqilab Mancha, arrived at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport (HSIA) at around 6 pm on a Biman Bangladesh Airlines flight, amid tight security and widespread public mourning, state-run news agency Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha (BSS) said quoting Biman General Manager (Public Relations) Boshra Islam.
Members of the Bangladesh Army, Armed Forces Battalion (AFB) and police were deployed in large numbers to maintain security when Hadi's body was taken out of the airport, it added.
Hadi's passing away at the Singapore General Hospital triggered widespread mourning across political circles, activists of Inqilab Mancha and the general public, BSS said.
Yunus has declared a one-day state mourning on Saturday following Hadi's death.
Earlier on Thursday, soon after Yunus' announcement, protesters took to the streets and attacked offices of leading newspapers, vandalised 32 Dhanmandi with hammers, and also demolished an office of deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina's disbanded Awami League party in Rajshahi city.
Regarded as the centre point of Bangladesh’s pre-independence struggle for autonomy for decades, 32 Dhanmandi was largely demolished with excavators on February 5 this year. It was also set on fire soon after the August 5, 2024 fall of the then Awami League government and Hasina fleeing to India.
Protesters also hurled bricks and stones at the residence of the Assistant Indian High Commissioner in Chattogram at 1:30 am, but failed to cause any damage.
Police responded with tear gas and baton charges, dispersing the crowd and detaining 12 protesters. A few injuries were also reported.
Senior officials assured the assistant high commissioner of enhanced security.
In Dhaka, protesters attacked the office of a leading cultural group, Chhayanaut, and brought out the furniture, setting it on fire.
Sporadic violence was also reported from other parts of the country overnight.
Meanwhile, after the flight from Singapore landed in Dhaka, local media reports and videos shared on social media showed Hadi's followers lining up on both sides of the road from the airport to Shahbagh to receive him before his coffin was brought to the Dhaka University Central Mosque for a public meeting.
In a Facebook post, Inqilab Mancha announced that a janaza will be held in Bangladesh on Saturday after Zuhr prayers (afternoon) at Manik Mia Avenue in the capital.
Hadi was shot in the head last week by masked gunmen as he initiated his election campaign at central Dhaka’s Bijoynagar area. He died while undergoing treatment at a Singapore hospital after fighting for his life for six days.
On Thursday night, the National Citizen Party (NCP), a large offshoot of Students Against Discrimination (SAD) that led the July Uprising, which ousted the Hasina-led government, joined a mourning procession on the Dhaka University campus.
Supporters of the group chanted anti-India slogans alleging that Hadi’s assailants fled to India after committing the murder. They called upon the interim government to close the Indian high commission until they were returned.
“The interim government, until India returns assassins of Hadi Bhai, the Indian High Commission to Bangladesh will remain closed. Now or Never. We are in a war!” said Sarjis Alm, a key leader of NCP.
Starting Thursday through night, a group of people, believed to be part of the protesters, also attacked the offices of Bangla newspaper Prothom Alo’s office and the nearby Daily Star at the capital's Karwan Bazar, near the Shahbagh intersection.
Reports said they vandalised several floors while journalists and staff of the newspaper were trapped inside, and the mob ignited a fire in front of the building.
Critically ill former prime minister Khaleda Zia's Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) strongly condemned the vandalism and said that the Yunus-led interim government will have to shoulder its responsibility.
In his address on Thursday, Yunus vowed to bring those involved in Hadi's brutal murder to justice quickly, saying, “No leniency will be shown” to the killers.
“I sincerely call upon all citizens – keep your patience and restraint,” he said.
“No one can stop the democratic progress of this country through threat, terrorist activities or bloodshed,” he said, adding that the responsibility of realising Hadi's dream lies on the shoulders of the entire.
