Minority budget allocation inadequate, says Jamaat-e-Islami Hind Karnataka
Bengaluru: Jamaat-e-Islami Hind Karnataka said the allocation made for minority welfare in the state budget was inadequate when compared to the community’s population share and development requirements.
Addressing reporters, on Saturday, Jamaat-e-Islami Hind Karnataka president Mohammed Sa’ad Belgami said the state budget with a total outlay of ₹4.48 lakh crore had earmarked around ₹3,400 crore for minority welfare programmes and schemes.
He pointed out that minorities constitute nearly 15 percent of Karnataka’s population, but the allocation for their welfare accounts for less than one per cent of the total budget.
“Allocating not even one per cent of the overall budget outlay for minorities raises serious questions about equity and proportional representation in public spending,” Belgami said.
He also referred to the Congress party’s election manifesto, which had promised that annual allocation for minority welfare would be increased to ₹10,000 crore.
According to him, the current allocation marks a decline from the previous figure of ₹4,700 crore, which had constituted about 1.18 per cent of the total budget.
Belgami said minority communities continue to face gaps in access to quality education, employment opportunities, housing and support for entrepreneurship.
In this context, he said stronger measures were needed to expand scholarship schemes, strengthen minority educational institutions, promote skill development and encourage entrepreneurship among minority youth.
He urged the government to take concrete steps in future budgets to ensure adequate resources are provided for the educational, economic and social advancement of minority communities in the state.
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Yatnal rules out rejoining BJP under ‘corrupt family’ leadership, vows launching his JCB Party
New Delhi/Bengaluru (PTI): Expelled BJP MLA Basanagouda Patil Yatnal on Monday ruled out rejoining the saffron party as long as what he termed a “corrupt family” continues to lead the party in Karnataka.
He also announced that his yet-to-be-launched JCB Party will come to power in the state, and he will be the next Chief Minister of Karnataka.
Speaking to reporters in New Delhi, the Vijayapura MLA said he had not come to the national capital to meet BJP leaders and dismissed speculation that he was lobbying to return to the party.
"I am not the kind of person who goes to someone’s house pleading to be taken into the BJP or begging for favour. Don’t run such stories tomorrow unnecessarily. We are open about everything. I have no need to go there and fall at someone’s feet for politics," Yatnal said. He said his visit to the capital was purely personal.
"I have come here for personal reasons—to attend the wedding of a friend’s son and to meet some of our old friends," he added.
Responding to a question on whether he would return to the BJP, Yatnal said he would not accept the leadership of what he described as a ‘corrupt family’ in the party’s Karnataka unit.
"We are people who live with self-respect. We will not accept the leadership of this corrupt family. As long as that corrupt family remains in the leadership of the BJP in Karnataka, the question of joining the BJP does not arise," he said.
He alleged that the BJP leadership in Karnataka was concentrated within the family of former Karnataka chief minister B S Yediyurappa.
Yatnal also indicated about floating a new political party.
"If needed, I will form my own regional party. Why would I sit and wait here? I’m not foolish enough to sit and wait," he said.
"I have my JCB Party ready—if the time comes to build a party, I will take the right decision and build it," he said.
Expressing confidence, Yatnal said, his proposed party will come to power in the state.
Let anyone conduct any survey they want. No matter how many surveys are done, it will be our party that will come to power in Karnataka—and I will be the Chief Minister,” he said.
There was no immediate reaction from Yediyurappa or his family members on Yatnal’s tirade.
A staunch critic of Yediyurappa and his alleged dynasty politics, Yatnal had openly criticised the former CM, prompting the BJP leadership to expel him from the party for six years for his ‘anti-party activities’ in March, 2025.
