Kalaburagi (Karnataka), Feb 1 (PTI) Terming the union budget presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in the Parliament as “disappointing”, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Sunday said it “lacks foresight”.
The CM also claimed that a “big injustice” has happened to Karnataka.
“This budget is disappointing and lacks foresight. It only contains statements,” Siddaramaiah said.
Speaking to reporters here, he said, “Karnataka has not been given anything. Not only that, the entire south India hasn’t been given anything in the budget. Karnataka has been given ‘Chombu’ (an empty small, round water container) in the budget.” “Only two things have been majorly mentioned about Karnataka is Bengaluru-Chennai and Hyderabad-Bengaluru high speed rail corridors in five years. This is of no benefit to Karnataka. It is more beneficial to Telangana and Tamil Nadu. We had asked for Bengaluru-Mumbai, Bengaluru-Mangaluru, and Bengaluru-Pune high speed rails,” he added.
The finance minister has spoken about “Viksit Bharat” in the budget. “It is only for talk and not in deeds,” the CM said.
He said there is no mention about the state’s irrigation projects. “We had asked for Upper Bhadra and Upper Krishna projects to be declared as national projects.” The CM also hit out at the Centre for delays in clearances to river water projects like Mekedatu and Mahadayi.
Citing lesser allocations to the state in central grants, Siddaramaiah said, “A big injustice is happening to us.” PTI KSU KH
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