Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah accuses Basavaraj Bommai of U-turn on wakf issue

Siddaramaiah referred to former chief minister Basavaraj Bommai’s statement of protecting every inch of waqf property and sought to know why Mr. Bommai is saying the opposite now.

The war of words in Karnataka over the wakf property notice issue further intensified with Chief Minister Siddaramaiah seeking to know why BJP had issued notices over 216 wakf properties during its rule and why was it protesting even after the government decided to withdraw the notices and make no change in the records.

Speaking to presspersons at Hubballi airport on November 4 before proceeding to Shiggaon to campaign for the Congress candidate, Mr. Siddaramaiah referred to former chief minister Basavaraj Bommai’s statement of protecting every inch of waqf property and sought to know why Mr. Bommai was saying the opposite now. “For political reasons, he has made a U-turn,” he said.

Mr. Siddaramaiah said that the waqf property issue was not something new. “Notices were served even when the BJP and JD(S) were in power. But, BJP is staging protests now for political reasons,” he said.

The Chief Minister said that, after consulting Ministers H.K. Patil and Krishna Byre Gowda, he had ordered withdrawal of notices, if issued, and rescinding entries pertaining to Waqf Board if done without a hearing. This apart specific directions had been issued telling officials not to evict any farmer whether they were Hindus, Muslims or Christians, he said.

Taking a dig at the BJP for staging protests for political reasons, he said that while Karnataka is fighting for getting its rightful share of tax revenue, why Mr. Bommai, former CM Jagadish Shettar and Union Minister Pralhad Joshi were hesitant to speak against the injustice caused to the State. “We have drawn the attention of the Finance Commission towards the injustice. While we contribute ₹4.50 lakh crores in the form of various taxes to the country, the allocation that we get from the Central pool is just around ₹60,000 crore. When we are fighting for the right cause, how does it become political?”

Replying to a query, he said that he is of the opinion that going to the court would not get any relief to the State. “Fifteenth Finance Commission had recommended special grant of ₹5,495 crore to Karnataka. This apart, it had recommended ₹3,000 crore each for development of peripheral road and tank development. In all ₹11,495 crore was sanctioned by the authority. I would like to ask Mr. Joshi whether this amount has been given to Karnataka,” he said.

If Mr. Joshi proves that ₹11,495 crore had been released to Karnataka, Mr Siddaramaiah promised to retired from politics. “Will Mr. Joshi  retire from politics if he is unable to prove release of the grants?” he said.