Karnataka Chief Minister challenges Shah to a discussion on assurances

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah issued an open challenge to Union Home Minister and prominent BJP figure Amit Shah on Sunday about the guarantee programs of the Congress government, which state BJP leaders are criticizing. He timed his remarks to coincide with Shah’s Sunday visit to Mysuru.

Shah claims that due of the promises, the treasury is empty. If Shah really believes this, then we need to have a public discussion. I can demonstrate that the guarantee programs are not the reason our treasury is empty; rather, there is an unjust revenue transfer from the federal government to the state. Amit Shah is also challenged by this, according to a media statement from Siddaramaiah.

“BJP politicians who are against the Karnataka guarantee programs are vowing to bring them to their home states. After opposing our guarantee plans, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has now appropriated the word “guarantee” and our guarantee schemes to promote himself. This demonstrates the party’s anti-poor policies and intellectual deficiency, he remarked.

He claimed that the BJP, Sangh Parivar, and RSS have always opposed programs intended for the poor, just as they had fought the “Garibi Hatao” introduced by the late prime minister Indira Gandhi. The PM, Shah, and local BJP officials are all anti-poor. “The impoverished should respond appropriately to them because they have consistently opposed social justice, including land reforms and reservations,” he added.

“The same rice is now being sold under the Bharat brand by the federal government, which declined to provide the grains needed for the Anna Bhagya program. When we requested rice, it had refused to offer it for Rs 33 per kilogram, but it is now selling it for Rs 29. It implies that the BJP is intolerant of Karnataka’s working class, farmers, women, and impoverished people,” he said.

In a string of tweets on “X,” he further disparaged Shah, writing, “Home Minister @AmitShah looked down upon Kannadigas as he is talking against our guarantee schemes.” Amit Shah’s accomplishments included opposing the Kannada flag, attempting to impose Hindi, and having the courage to force Amul on Nandini.