Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday, April 6 refused to answer a question posed by a reporter about why she declined to participate in an open debate with Karnataka’s Minister of Revenue Krishna Byre Gowda. Earlier, an open debate between the Union Minister and the state Minister was proposed by Jagruta Karnataka, a civil rights group, over the budget allocations to the state. The Karnataka government has been alleging that the Union government is not giving their fair share in the budget.
While Krishna Byre Gowda accepted the invitation and participated in the event, the Union Minister did not turn up for the debate.
On Saturday, when the Union Minister of Finance was addressing a press conference at the BJP media office in Bengaluru, a reporter asked, “Why did you not accept the invitation for the debate with Karnataka’s Revenue Minister Krishna Byre Gowda?”
To this, Niramala Sitharaman initially replied with an “ohhh.” She then asked the reporter their name and the media house which she represented before answering the question. Nirmala Sitharaman said, “Right now I am answering all your questions. Only your finances… I’m answering here, right? Hear this first…”
When the reporter had a follow up question, she retorted, “It is alright. I am not in an argument at all. I fully heard you, I’m giving answers for the media’s questions. I am answering everybody’s questions.”
Meanwhile, in the press conference, Nirmala Sitharaman claimed that the law and order in Karnataka has deteriorated due to the “appeasement politics” of the Congress-led state government. The Finance Minister said, "When pro-Pakistan slogans are raised in the Karnataka Assembly, there is implicit support which is being extended... wrongdoers, terrorists and perpetrators of terrorism are encouraged."
She alleged that the Congress government has "recently allotted a prime property belonging to the Animal Husbandry Department in the heart of Bengaluru to a particular community" for appeasing minorities.
With inputs from IANS
