Bengaluru, 8 April

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Monday asserted that the Congress government headed by him in the State stands "robust" and "stable". Hitting out at the Opposition BJP leaders, he said it appears that it is their "intellect" that is facing "bankruptcy", not the State.

"Do not embarrass yourselves by lying every day and then manufacturing more falsehoods to defend them when they are exposed," Siddaramaiah said in a statement aimed at the BJP.

Accusing the saffron party of "blabbering" about the State going bankrupt because of a loan of Rs 10,000 crore in the April-June quarter last year, he suggested that they examine the debt records of the previous BJP government's tenure.

Elaborating further, Siddaramaiah alleged that during the financial year 2020-21, BJP’s Basavaraj Bommai as chief minister had taken a loan of Rs 84,528 crore.

The following year, 2021-22 saw an additional borrowing of Rs 67,332 crore, and in 2022-23, the loan amount reached Rs 72,000 crore, Siddaramaiah said. "To repay this debt, Rs 43,580 crore was spent in 2022-23. Consequently, the responsibility to settle these debts now falls on us," he said.

"Shouldn't you at least ask your own Bommai before making allegations against our government?," Siddaramaiah asked.

The Chief Minister said that from the time of independence until 2018, the total debt of the State government was Rs 2.42 lakh crore, but in the five years from 2018 to 2023, this debt increased to Rs 5.40 lakh crore. "Within a span of five years, the State's debt surged by Rs 3 lakh crore. BJP Karnataka should introspect about this and kindly inform the public about the party responsible for the debt increase," he said.

Slamming the BJP leaders, he said it seems that governance, economy, and development are not their cup of tea and alleged that they excel only in filling people's minds with "Hindu-Muslim, communalism, Pakistan, and Muslim League issues, causing strife among peacefully coexisting communities for political gain".

"The people of the state know who is ‘Sullu (lie) Ramaiah’ and who is ‘Satya (true) Ramaiah’. They will accordingly answer you in this election," he added.