Bengaluru: Leader of Opposition in Karnataka Assembly Siddaramaiah on Friday criticised Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa for the poor handling of the COVID-19 situation and hit out at the BJP government for not addressing the concerns of Kannadigas.
“After a series of disappointing episodes, our Karnataka Chief Minister may have finally got an appointment to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi!! Apart from your desperate attempts to save your position, Mr. Yediyurappa, please ask a few questions that concern Kannadigas,” he tweeted.
“In the preliminary 15th FC report, Karnataka is clearly at a disadvantage for effectively controlling population growth rates. Mr. Yediyurappa, ask your party head to re-evaluate the indicators & the calculations to decide both devolutions of taxes & SDRF,” the former Karnataka Chief Minister tweeted further.
He further asked the Karnataka Chief Minister to “demand rightful flood relief”.
“Mr. Yediyurappa, you had requested Rs 35,000 Cr for last year’s flood relief but Karnataka just got Rs 1,869 Cr. Then there were floods this year as well and your estimated loss is Rs 8,000Cr. Present our case effectively to demand our rightful flood relief, Congress leader said in a tweet.
Siddaramaiah further told the Karnataka chief minister to not to “succumb to your leader’s bullying” and asked him to take “complete responsibility to raise funds”.
“GST compensation is a matter of great concern and it may affect cooperative federalism. Karnataka should get Rs25,508 Cr as GST compensation. Yediyurappa does not succumb to your leader’s bullying and betrays us. The centre should take complete responsibility to raise funds and compensate,” he said.
Further asked the Chief Minister to demand more ventilators to address the COVID-19 situation in the state by demanding more ventilators in the state.
“Prime Minister had centralised the procurement and yet Karnataka has not received an adequate number of ventilators. The impact of which we are seeing every day, where people are dying without critical care. The chief Minister should demand more ventilators and help save precious lives,” he said while slamming the measures taken by the state government to save lives in COVID-19 times.
The Congress leader asked how much did Karnataka receive from the Rs 20 Lakh crore package urging him to implement the NYAY scheme.
“How much has Karnataka got out of Rs20lakh Cr COVID package announced? With jobs lost, these packages are important to sustain the livelihood of many. He should demand to implement NYAY scheme to give Rs6,000 monthly for unemployed & poor families,” he tweeted further.