Now, Siddaramaiah’s Krishi Bhagya scheme under probe, Yediyurappa govt says funds ‘misused’

With a few other schemes launched by the previous regimes already being probed, opposition Congress is alleging vendetta politics.

B.S. Yediyurappa | ANI File photo

Bengaluru: The B.S. Yediyurappa government in Karnataka has added one more probe to an increasing list of flagship schemes by previous governments that are under the scanner over allegations of corruption.

In the latest salvo, the Karnataka chief minister has ordered an inquiry into the Krishi Bhagya scheme — launched by the Siddaramaiah government in 2014-15 to help farmers in rain-deficient areas of the state — due to complaints of misappropriation of funds.

In a letter dated 7 September, Yediyurappa asked Karnataka Chief Secretary T.M. Vijay Bhaskar to issue a direction to all district agriculture department directors to personally visit all ‘Krishi Hondas’ (farm ponds) in their regions, verify how the scheme has been utilised and submit a report.

Under the scheme, farmers can obtain grants from the state to construct farm ponds to conserve rainwater.

Just over a month old, the Yediyurappa government has already ordered inquiries into several schemes of the previous governments — including the Indira Canteens (where subsidised meals are served for the urban poor), and a project to provide white-topping roads in Bengaluru, among others.

While the government claims that it is only acting on complaints, the opposition Congress has alleged “vendetta politics”.

‘Complaints’ vs ‘vendetta’

Speaking to ThePrint, Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister C.N. Ashwath Narayan said, “We have received several complaints and that is why we have initiated a probe. Do you think we will ask for a detailed investigation without proof?”

Asked if every scheme of the previous government will be probed, Narayan said it was their “duty as a responsible government to probe into matters where complaints have been received of misuse of public funds”.

“How can an enquiry become vindictive? We are not undoing anything. We are contouring the schemes, we are only making sure that these funds are being used appropriately,” he added.

However, the Congress has labelled these developments as “vindictive politics” and a “standard operating procedure” in all the states where the BJP has come to power.

Claiming the BJP has adopted a similar vindictive approach in states like Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra, Congress leaders say this is a way of trying to steal credit for a scheme that did well when the opposition was in power.

Priyank Kharge, who served as a minister in both Siddaramaiah and H.D. Kumaraswamy governments, said this was the BJP’s strategy to malign the previous regimes.

“It’s been a month and a half since the BJP announced several schemes as part of its new government. But none of them has been put into action or work has even begun. They are trying to find loopholes in the popular schemes of the previous government.

“If they are strengthening (the schemes) by rectifying loopholes, we have no problem. But unfortunately that’s not their intention,” said Kharge.

Bitter fight

Last month, Congress’s pet project Indira Canteens was on the verge of closure over lack of funds. Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa alleged that huge sums of money had been misused while running the canteens. However, after a major public outcry, the CM said the canteens would not be shut down, though he ordered a probe into the scheme.

On 18 August, the government ordered a probe into the use of public funds worth close to Rs 2,000 crore for the first two phases of white-topping and TenderSure Project on Bengaluru roads, passed under the Siddaramaiah government. The CM also temporarily suspended work on the third phase of the project.

The Congress also alleged that one of its most ambitious initiatives, ‘Anna Bhagya’, under which 30 kg of rice is given for Re 1 to nearly 1 crore families across the state, faced a cut as the Yediyurappa government planned to divert its funds to the Prime Minister Kisan Samman Scheme.

“If this is true, the BJP’s decision is anti-poor. People will not tolerate this and our party will conduct state-wide protests,” Siddamramiah had warned in August.

The government has however said it is not planning any such move.

‘Labelling our schemes’

Claiming that the ruling party is trying to put a ‘BJP stamp’ on every scheme, Priyank Kharge said the Narendra Modi government’s strategy in its first term was to take the UPA schemes, rename them and then relaunch them in its own name.

Kharge said the national e-governance plan became Digital India, the Aam Aadmi Bima Yojana became Atal Pension Yojana, the Rajya Swasthya Bima Yojana became Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Yojana, and the Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan became Swachh Bharat “just because the PM held the broom”.

“That is what they are trying to do in Karnataka too. They are trying to put a BJP label to all of our schemes,” Kharge alleged.