Come along, CM Sidda exhorts FM, Pralhad, and Rajeev C

Bengaluru Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah sent letters to all state MPs in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha on Tuesday, the day before the protest at Jantar Mantar, asking them to take part in the ‘Chalo Delhi’ protest and stressing that it was not a war between the BJP and Congress. Along with the other state MPs, invitations were sent to BJP ministers Nirmala Sitharaman, Rajeev Chandrashekhar, and Pralhad Joshi.

The declared goal of the protest is to raise awareness of the purported loss of Rs 1.9 lakh crore that Karnataka has suffered during the term of the 15th Finance Commission. A Congress team that included Siddaramaiah, his deputy DK Shivakumar, ministers, and MLAs arrived in Delhi on Tuesday to prepare for the demonstration.
Ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, Siddaramaiah’s letter to BJP MPs caused significant consternation, as some saw it as a calculated attempt to harm the saffron party. In Karnataka, the BJP controls 27 LS MPs, while in RS, it has eight state members.
Siddaramaiah bemoaned perceived unfairness in his epistle, listing a number of problems including slow progress in getting approval and money for important state projects, insufficient relief measures for farmers hit by the drought, and delays in the state’s part of central taxes being paid out.
The demonstration has sparked a verbal spat between the Congress and the BJP-JD(S) coalition in the state. Former chief minister and member of the BJP national parliamentary board BS Yediyurappa called it “political manoeuvring,” adding that PM Modi’s Centre is doing “commendably.”