Bengaluru, 27 April

Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar on Saturday said the Congress will stage a demonstration on 28 April here against the 'paltry' drought relief given by the Centre to the state.

Shivakumar, who is also Congress state president, said against the demand for Rs 18,172 crore to mitigate drought in the state, the Centre has sanctioned only Rs 3,454 crore.

The Union government has announced a very paltry sum of relief, which will be grossly insufficient to provide drought relief to farmers, he told mediapersons here. "In this regard, we have decided to stage a protest near the Gandhi statue at Vidhana Soudha. We will also continue our legal battle for more drought relief. We are not seeking alms, this is our right," he noted.

Shivakumar said Karnataka had only sought 50 per cent of the estimated loss of Rs 35,000 crore, but the Centre has agreed to release only a fraction of that.