Don’t embarrass yourselves by lying every day, Siddaramaiah advises BJP

Bengaluru: Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Monday slammed state BJP leaders over their statements against the Congress government over the state’s alleged bankruptcy.

“Dear leaders of BJP Karnataka, rest assured that our government stands robust and stable. It appears, however, that it is your intellect which is facing bankruptcy, not our state. Do not embarrass yourselves by lying every day and then manufacturing more falsehoods to defend them when these are exposed,” he said.

“You (BJP leaders), who are blabbering about the state going bankrupt because of a loan of Rs 10,000 crore in the April-June quarter last year, wouldn’t have invited us to beat you up with facts if you had taken the trouble to examine the debt records during your own previous government’s tenure,” he taunted the opposition party leaders.

Siddaramaiah said that during the financial year 2020-21 when Basavaraj Bommai was the Chief Minister, he took a loan of Rs 84,528 crore. The following year, 2021-22, saw an additional borrowing of Rs 67,332 crore, and in 2022-23, the loan amount reached Rs 72,000 crore.

To repay this debt, Rs 43,580 crore was spent in 2022-23, he noted, adding that consequently, the responsibility to settle these debts now falls on his government.

The Chief Minister said that from the time of independence until 2018, the total debt of the state government was Rs 2.42 lakh crore, but in the five years from 2018 to 2023, it increased to Rs 5.40 lakh crore, surging by Rs 3 lakh crore within a span of five years.

“BJP Karnataka should introspect about this and kindly inform the public about the party responsible for the debt increase,” he said.

“Dear BJP leaders, it seems that governance, economy, and development are not your cup of tea; you excel only in filling people’s minds with Hindu-Muslim, communalism, Pakistan, and Muslim League issues, causing strife among peacefully coexisting communities for political gain. The people of the state know who is ‘Sullu (liar) Ramaiah’ and who is ‘Satya (truth) Ramaiah’. They will accordingly answer you in this election.”