Kumaraswamy hails Kannadigas' spirit for a united Karnataka
Bengaluru, Aug 15 : Karnataka Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy on Wednesday said the JD-S-Congress coalition government was committed to the development of the entire state, asserting that he has allocated more funds for all the regions than previous governments had done.
The Chief Minister hailed Kannadigas for their spirit of unity and strong will against attempts to divide the state.
"I have an emotional bonding with Belagavi (around 500km northwest of Bengaluru, bordering Maharashtra), where the state's first legislature session was held in 2006 during my previous tenure," he said in his address at the Sam Manekshaw Parade ground in Bangaluru on the occasion of the country's 72nd Independence Day.
"I salute the spirit of unity demonstrated by Kannadigas against the division of Karnataka. Their strong will has silenced the feeble voices of division of the state before they become louder," said Kumaraswamy.
Giving an assurance on addressing problems of the people living in Goa, Kasaragod in Kerala and Solapur in Maharashtra, Kumaraswamy said he would address them in talks with his counterparts from the three states.
"The state government aims to improve the human development index of all districts across the state. Besides basic infrastructure, amenities like education, health and social security for all are our priority," he said.
On the Rs 49,000-crore crop loan waiver to distressed farmers, the chief minister said an official order would soon be issued on it for loans raised from state-run banks, benefiting 20.4-lakh farmers across the state.
"The state government has already waived loan raised from cooperative banks. The new order will be issued to waive loans from the state-run banks," he noted.
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Congress using hijab issue to pacify minority anger, alleges Karnataka LoP R Ashoka
Bengaluru: Leader of Opposition in the Assembly R. Ashoka has accused the Congress government of using the hijab issue to placate what he described as discontent among minority voters after the Davanagere by-election.
In a post on X on Wednesday, Ashoka alleged that the state government, instead of addressing issues such as price rise, corruption, farmers’ distress and law and order, was attempting to retain its minority vote base by reviving the hijab issue.
Referring to the 2022 dress code introduced by the BJP government, which prohibited hijab in schools and colleges, Ashoka said the Karnataka High Court had upheld the policy and emphasised the importance of discipline in educational institutions.
He questioned the Congress government’s move to revisit the issue and asked whether setting aside the court-backed policy to benefit one community could be described as secularism.
Ashoka further alleged that while the government was willing to permit hijab, it continued to prohibit saffron shawls.
He accused the government of dividing students on religious lines rather than treating schools and colleges as spaces of equality.
Drawing a comparison with Mamata Banerjee’s government in West Bengal, Ashoka claimed that excessive appeasement politics had harmed the state and warned that the Congress in Karnataka could face a similar political response.
He said voters in Karnataka would teach the Congress a lesson for what he termed “vote-bank politics” and for compromising constitutional and judicial principles.
