Gujarat? No, it's Karnataka growth model: CM Siddaramaiah

Hubballi: Ridiculing the BJP leaders’ talk of a “Gujarat model” of development, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said on Tuesday it was time to talk about a  “Karnataka model” based on its various Bhagyas and pro-poor schemes.

Addressing a “Sadhana Samavesha” in Jamkhandi town of Bagalkot district, he said that Karnataka had seen tremendous growth over the last five years, and the Congress government had fulfilled all its promises made before its election. Moreover , his government had delivered a corruption-free and transparent administration.

Confident that people would relect the Congress in 2018 elections, he  said  there was no anti-incumbency wave in the state as was proved in the Nanjangud and Gundlupet Assembly bypolls. 

“Yeddyurappa calls me an unfit Chief Minister. But the language  used by the BJP leaders shows their culture,” Mr Siddaramaiah added, also hitting out at Union Minister, Ananth Kumar Hegde for “stoking  communal fires” in the state. 

He was also critical of BJP leaders visiting  Dalit households as a gimmick, and challenged them to give their children in marriage to young boys and girls from these  families if they really believed in the ideology of 12th century social reformer, Basavanna. Later in  Banahatti town he lambasted the Centre for not waiving off farmers’ loans given by nationalised banks, and said his government was pro-farmer as it had spent three times more than the funds utilised by the previous government on the irrigation sector alone.  

The CM regretted that state  BJP leaders  had failed to utter a word to the Prime Minister to persuade him to resolve the Mahadayi river dispute with Goa. But the police had to whisk away  farmers wearing black badges, and shouting slogans against the government for its failure to implement the Sasalatti lift irrigation project in Banhatti town, before the Chief Minister could arrive at the venue.