From Our Special Correspondent
Daijiworld Media Network - Bengaluru
Bengaluru, Jan 11: Taking strong exception to BJP National President Amit Shah asking Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to explain what happened to the Rs 3 lakh crore received by Karnataka from the 14th Finance Commission, Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) Working President Dinesh Gundu Rao on Thursday said the State did not receive any personal funds from Shah but only got its legitimate share in the central pool of funds.
"Who is Amit Shah to demand explanation from the Chief Minister of a State?," asked the KPCC Working President and said only Prime Minister Narendra Modi as head of the Central government or Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley were entitled to demand such explanations through proper channel if they had any doubts.
Addressing a news conference at the Congress Bhavan on Thursday, he said the State has not been seeking any charity from the Centre but received its legitimate share of central funds.
Karnataka is contributing the highest share of Central pool of taxes and the 14th Finance Commission was allocating funds to all the States as per prescribed norms, he said.
Shah on Wednesday while addressing a BJP meeting at Holalkere in Chitradurga district, had accused the Congress regime in the state of large-scale misuse of central grants of over Rs 3 lakh crore and sought an account from Chief Minister Siddaramaiah as to where the money has gone.
The amount received by the State included grants from the Union government and the state’s share in taxes under the 14th Finance Commission, Rao said.
The KPCC Working President pointed out that the people of the country had to right to demand how Shah’s son Jay Shah earned such huge turnover and profits with meagre investment after Modi came to power and why the "lucrative and profit-making company" was wound up so quickly.
"Let the BJP first answer this question if they really believed in probity and honesty in public life? Why the Modi government which has conducting raids on various political opponents by using the Income Department, Enforcement Directorate and other investigative agencies was not probing this issue," he asked.
"Let PM intervene in Mahadayi issue"
Referring to the issue of Mahadayi water dispute, the Congress leader said the State BJP president B S Yeddyurappa has betrayed the people of north Karnataka by not keeping his promise of releasing water for drinking water purpose.
Rao sought the intervention of Prime Minister Narendra Modi for amicable settlement of the Mahadayi water dispute if they are genuinely interested in solving the drinking water needs of the drought-prone regions of the State.
Referring to the communal violence in coastal Karnataka, the Congress leader said the BJP leaders have been trying to polarise communities on the religious lines to suit their narrow political ends.
The KPCC Working President asked BJP MPs such as Shobha Karandlaje and Union Minister of State for Skill Development Ananth Kumar Hegde to stage a dharna before the PM’s office in Delhi seeking ban on Popular Front of India. Only the Centre has power to ban the PFI, he said.