'Chargesheet' released against Siddaramaiah government by BJP in Karnataka

With assembly elections set to be held next year in Karnataka, the BJP on Thursday released a booklet which it termed was a "chargesheet" against the Siddaramaiah government.

Leader of the opposition in the Assembly, Jagadish Shettar has alleged maladministration under the Congress leadership.

Here are some of the prominent accusations:

Fiscal irresponsibility: BJP targeted the Congress government for borrowing heavily over the past four years and accused the chief minister of being "reckless" about it.

The saffron party claimed that the Congress government plans to reduce outstanding loans by Rs 37,092 crore but its borrowings over the period are Rs 1.26 lakh crore.

"Deceit of welfare": The BJP has alleged that the Congress government has been misleading people by announcing welfare schemes that never get implemented.

"The reduction in allocation for crucial sectors in the state budget is extremely strange," it said, noting that while the outlay for the agriculture sector formed 3.62% of the budget in the year the government came to power, it reduced to 3.53%.

Even social sectors faced the brunt, the booklet said, listing that from 15.67% allocation four years ago, it came down to 10.02%.

Breakdown in law and order: Bengaluru has come to be known as the "rape city" from India's Silicon Valley under the Congress regime, the BJP alleged, noting that in four years, 1,24,655 cases have been lodged in Bengaluru alone, and it was ranked the



third highest among cities in number of crimes against women and children.

Unchecked illegal sand extraction mafia: At least 1.92 lakh cubic-metres of sand was extracted illegally between 2013-14 and 2016-17. Despite 7,432 cases being lodged, there has been no progress in the cases against the offenders, the party alleged.

Unutilised funds in education: "The government has earmarked a total of 7,821 crore for primary and secondary education over the past four years. Of this, only Rs 5,215 crore has been released and only Rs 4,253 has been utilised," the booklet said.

Women & child welfare ignored: BJP cited similar numbers to target the Congress on the women and child welfare sector. Despite announcing Rs 12,475 crore for the Women and Child Welfare department, only Rs 11, 457 crore was released and only Rs 9,529 crore has been used, it said.

Farmers neglected: The saffron party said 2,573 farmers have committed suicide in the last four years. "However, the government has refused to accept this figure" and set the number at 1,700.

Urban development: The party again rued the under-utilisation of funds in the urban development sector, saying of the Rs 45,404 crore announced for various development works in cities, only Rs 32,900 crore was released and Rs 34,393 crore spent.

The BJP noted that by announcing huge amounts for various sectors and not utilising the whole amount, the Congress had only increased the loan burden of the exchequer.