Karnataka BJP slams state govt over failure to tackle drought

Slamming the state government’s “failure” to tackle drought, the BJP on Wednesday said that Congress ministers are “blind with power” and “behaving like dictators” instead of attending to the problems at hand.

Training his guns on APMC and Sugar Minister Shivanand Patil for reportedly saying that farmer suicides had increased due to a hike in compensation, BJP vice-president B Y Vijayendra demanded his apology for making “senseless” statements.

Vijayendra further pointed out that while Agriculture Minister N Chaluvarayaswamy is asking farmers not to sow crops, Patil had gone a step further with his statement.

“Are these ministers at their wit’s end? The ministers should speak sympathetically and act with empathy towards farmers who are at loss due to severe drought in the state. Ministers are either behaving like dictators or busy making mindless statements,” Vijayendra, the Shikaripura MLA, lashed out.

Targeting Chief Minister Siddaramaiah for asking the union government to amend the drought guidelines, Vijayendra cited the example of his father, former chief minister B S Yediyurappa.

“When he (Yediyurappa) was CM (in 2019), the state faced severe floods. He did not even have a full-fledged Cabinet, but still he crisscrossed the state alone without wasting a single minute. He release funds to take up relief works. Instead of wasting time in writing letters, he acted. Likewise, this government also could have released funds and started relief works,” Vijayendra said.

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Vijayendra alleged that perhaps this was the first government about which people have started speaking negatively in just 100 days. “The Congress government will humbled for its  adamancy and insensitivity during Lok Sabha polls in the state,” he said.