Political will helped Congress government fulfil poll promises, says Karnataka CM

Unmindful of the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi mocking the guarantees and warnings that the Karnataka government would go bankrupt if it implements the schemes, the Congress fulfilled its promises and successfully launched three guarantees, he said. The fourth is being launched on August 30.

On the occasion of the Congress government completing 100 days in office, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said that his government had political will that made it possible to fulfil the promises made to the people. The implementation of three guarantees and launch of the fourth guarantee — Gruha Lakshmi — on August 30 is a testimony to the Congress government’s commitment.

Addressing mediapersons in Mysuru on August 29 after offering a special puja with Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar at the temple of Goddess Chamundeshwari atop Chamundi hills, he said, “The government did not face any kind of challenges in the last 100 days since it was confident in its belief and commitment. The party and the government had the political will that made it possible to start fulfilling the promises made in its election manifesto.”

Unmindful of the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi mocking its guarantees and warnings that the government would go bankrupt if it implements the schemes, the government fulfilled its promises and successfully launched three guarantees, he said. The fourth guarantee — Gruha Lakshmi — that is being launched in Mysuru on August 30 will be one of the biggest government programmes in India, with over ₹32,000 crore being spent on a single programme.

On BJP’s criticism of the Congress government, Mr Siddaramaiah said, “When BJP was in power, it did not act against corruption. It is making false claims as we are probing allegations like 40% commission and PSI recruitment scam. While we were in the opposition, the Congress demanded a probe into allegations of 40% commission in government contracts, but BJP refused. Now that the Congress has been elected to govern Karnataka, we are probing all such allegations.”

Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar said he and the CM visited the Chamundeshwari temple as ‘both of us had prayed for the Congress to be elected to power in the State at the temple, and started distributing the guarantee cards thereafter’. “We had sought the goddess’s blessings and prayed for strength. Today, we have come to power and visited the temple to offer a puja on the occasion of the government completing 100 days in office.”

He informed that Gruha Jyothi has 1.40 crore beneficiaries, Anna Bhagya has 1.39 crore beneficiaries, and Shakti scheme has 46 crore women beneficiaries. The fourth guarantee – Gruha Lakshmi – is all set for the launch on August 30 for which about 1.10 crore women have registered. “These are our achievements. The entire government is at the abode of Goddess Chamundeshwari on this momentous occasion,” he told reporters.

He dismissed opposition claims of a rift between him and the Chief Minister.