Bengaluru, 18 Oct

Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar met members of the Karnataka State Contractors Association (KSCA) at his Kumara Park Government Residence on Saturday and held discussions.

The KSCA members included President Manjunath, General Secretary Ravindra and others. On Friday, the KSCA had threatened to go on strike if the pending dues of Rs 3,300 crore were not met by December. 

Shivakumar had said before the meeting that he was not afraid of their threats and blamed the previous BJP government for the dues. 

“I am not scared of their threats,” he had said. “The previous BJP government had tendered more projects than budgeted and hence the issue with clearance of payments. We are trying to clear their bills in a phased manner.”

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had on Friday he had said let the contractors go to court. On Saturday, he took a milder stance and said the government was would resolve the issue after discussing it with them. 

However, Leader of Opposition in the State Assembly, R Ashoka, claimed that the dues were not paid because the State was “bankrupt”.

Ashoka wrote on X: "(Congress leader) Rahul Gandhi, is this your so-called ‘Karnataka Model’? Under the corrupt and exploitative #ATMSarkara, Karnataka has gone bankrupt. Contractors are demanding ₹33,000 CRORE in unpaid dues from eight government departments! From irrigation to housing, from PWD to labour - every department is choking because Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar have squeezed the State coffers dry to save their chairs and fund their political games."