Accusing the BJP government of not honouring the promises made to the people of Karnataka ahead of the 2018 Assembly elections, the Congress on Monday alleged that the ruling BJP had implemented just 10% of the promises during the last three years. The Congress also launched a campaign seeking answers from the BJP.
The campaign ‘BJP Nimma Hathira Ideya Uttara?’ to seek answers will involve each Congress leader posing a question every day to the BJP. The campaign also highlights the ‘Operation Lotus’ that brought the BJP to power in the State, alleged 40% commission in public works, and a series of alleged recruitment scams. As part of the campaign, the Congress launched short videos highlighting the alleged poor governance record of the BJP government.
“The BJP had made 600 promises before the polls. Even after coming to power three years ago, it has met only 10% of the promises,” Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Assembly Siddaramaiah said during a joint press conference in which KPCC president D.K. Shivakumar and AICC general secretary Randeep Surjewala were present.
“People should understand that the government has committed a fraud them by not meeting the promises made. We have asked questions about it and let them answer them,” he said, adding that the Congress government had met 158 promises of the total 165 promises made during the 2013 elections. The former Chief Minister said that though the BJP government had promised to spend ₹1.5 lakh crore to complete all irrigation works in the State, it actually spent only ₹48,000 crore during the three years. “Whereas we spent ₹58,000 crore on irrigation though we had promised ₹50,000 crore.”
According to Mr. Surjewala, the government is marred by four Cs — crumbling infrastructure, complete policy paralysis, corruption, and communal tension. “Basavaraj Bommai has been the weakest Chief Ministers that the State has seen and Karnataka has become the most corrupt State in the country. The BJP has only lied to the State and we will continue to question the government. Every day, leaders will ask one question each to the government,” he added.
Asking the BJP if it had answers to the questions posed by Congress leaders, Mr. Shivakumar said his party would start asking questions to the BJP from Monday and these questions would be posed on social media by leaders. “We are accusing the government of inaction based on the 2018 election manifesto. The manifesto itself is a bundle of frauds. Does the BJP have answers to our questions?” he said.
Congress to take the political fight to legislature
The Congress, which has upped the ante against the ruling BJP with a series of campaigns and press conferences in the last few days, is expected to take the fight inside the legislature too. The Congress Legislature Party that met on Sunday is believed to have decided to attack the government on issues such as 40% commission, employment scam, and other governance issues in the monsoon session that has been convened from September 12. Sources said the Congress legislators in both the Assembly and the Council have been asked to attend the 10-day session compulsorily to raise issues of governance and ask questions to the government.
