Analysis: Karnataka Budget - 5 Guarantees And Their Relevance For Congress
NDTV
It is not often that a state government's budget assumes as much critical, political and electoral significance as the one Karnataka's new Chief Minister Siddaramaiah presented today.
All eyes were on the state budget as the Chief Minister, who also holds the finance portfolio, carried out a mammoth task of preparing the budget that made provisions for the Congress party's 'Famous Five Guarantees'. The highlight of Siddaramaiah's 14th budget, seventh as Chief Minister, was mobilising funds for the Congress's five election guarantee schemes that, according to him, will require an estimated Rs 52,000 crore annually. Siddaramaiah presented the state budget of Rs 3.27 lakh crore. The total expenditure is estimated to be Rs.3,27,747 crore which includes revenue expenditure at Rs.2,50,933 crore, capital expenditure at Rs.54,374 crore, and loan repayment at Rs.22,441 crore.
The previous BJP government headed by Basavaraj Bommai had already presented an interim budget in mid-February. It was hailed as a budget that had crossed the Rs 3 lakh crore mark. Usually, in situations like these, when a new government presents a fresh budget, it is not very different; more often than not, it is like old wine in a new bottle. The new state government's budget will be actually operational for less than nine months, as the first quarter of the financial year is already behind us.