Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Basavaraj Bommai said, on Wednesday, January 17, that it seemed like Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had just got up from ‘deep slumber’ and had failed to see the funds released by the Union government. He said, “CM Siddaramaiah is talking about Prime Minister Narendra Modi who works 18 hours daily for the country and has not taken a single day’s holiday in the last nine-and-a-half years.”
In a post on X (formerly Twitter), former CM Bommai said, “During the UPA Government’s regime between 2004 and 2014, Karnataka received Rs 81,795 crore in the form of tax distribution and Rs 60,779 crore in the form of grants. In the current NDA dispensation from 2014 till December 2023, the state received Rs 2,82,791 crore in tax distribution and Rs 2,08,882 crore as grants. In the month of May, the state got Rs 360 crore and a decision has been made to release another Rs 348 crore. Despite this, the current Congress Government has not been able to release a single rupee towards the compensation to farmers for crop damage due to drought. Is the state treasury empty because of which the relief has not been released in one shot?” Bommai questioned.
Further, he said that the Union government released Rs 30,000 crore for national highways, with which the Bengaluru-Mysore Highway was built and Rs 1,327 was released for the Smart City project. He also listed the other funds released by the Union government and said, "It is unfortunate for the people as you haven't woken up from the deep slumber and driven Karnataka to the state of penury due to lack of development."