From Our Special Correspondent
Daijiworld Media Network

Bengaluru, Apr 6: BJP opposition leader R Ashoka on Saturday alleged that the Congress government of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah delayed in declaring the drought situation in the State by three months and subsequently failed to provide compensation to drought affected farmers.

Addressing a media conference, he claimed that the previous BJP government had sanctioned compensation to the people during the flood havoc and the Congress government should have granted compensation to the affected farmers.

The BJP leader accused the Congress government of unnecessarily blaming the Narendra Modi regime for not sanctioning drought relief even as the government failed to act in time and declare drought situation. If the State Government had done its work in time, the Centre would have sent its team to assess the situation and now to hide its lapses, it is blaming the Centre, he said.

Ashoka said the Revenue Minister Krishna Byre Gowda should have contested and become MP to urge the Centre to sanction relief if he was so brilliant. The Rs 2000 sanctioned by the State Government was out of the funds granted by the Centre, he claimed.

He said the Congress government, which has moved the Supreme Court, demanding a direction to the Centre to release drought relief funds is likely to be rebuked by the apex court as was done in the case of Kerala government.

The BJP leader claimed that the Modi regime has released a lot of more funds to the State than that by UPA regime. The Modi government has spent much more on infrastructure development than the UPA rule.

Ashoka argued that the Siddaramaiah government’s Anna Bhagya scheme is actually on account of the rice released by the Centre.

He criticised Byre Gowda for inviting Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman for a debate on the funds and injustice in the devolution of funds and said such debate should take place in parliament.