Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday told newly elected MPs from Karnataka to raise their voice against “injustice” meted out to the State by the Centre concerning the share in devolution of taxes and delay in approval of irrigation projects, and suggested they always be with people in their constituencies and not in Delhi or Bengaluru.
Mr. Gandhi met all elected and defeated candidates of the Congress and told them to fight against the alleged step-motherly treatment given to the State by the Centre and raise their constituency problems during the Parliament session. Mr. Gandhi also told defeated candidates to be with the voters who had not supported them in the elections and win their hearts.
BJP MPs did not raise issues
Mr. Gandhi said BJP MPs had not raised the issues of Karnataka in Parliament. He told them to raise issues related to “gross injustice” done by the Central government in the devolution of taxes, decline of funds under the 15th Finance Commission, and denial of permissions to take up water resources projects such as Kalasa-Banduri, Mekedatu, and Upper Bhadra, and peripheral ring road in Bengaluru for the past few years.
The State government has maintained that the tax share of Karnataka should have increased as the Union Budget size doubled from ₹23 lakh crore in 2014 to ₹45 lakh crore in 2023. But the allocations to the State remained around ₹50,000 crore a year. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah led an agitation in New Delhi against the Centre’s alleged discriminatory policies.
‘Will be held to account’
Mr. Gandhi said Ministers would be made accountable for the defeat of the candidates in the parliamentary polls. He met Ministers and obtained reasons for the defeat of the candidates in their constituencies. “We expected five or six more seats,” he said and told the Ministers to take steps to correct the mistakes.
Deputy Chief Minister and KPCC president D.K. Shivakumar, who briefed the press about issues discussed during the meeting, said Mr. Gandhi sought a Legislative Assembly-wise report on the reasons for the defeat of the party candidates. The former AICC chief would hold meetings with all Ministers in the coming days to understand the causes for the defeat of candidates and find solutions to address the issues, Mr. Shivakumar said.
Mr. Gandhi was in Bengaluru in connection with the summons issued by a court in a defamation case filed by BJP’s Karnataka unit against the publication of advertisements in newspapers labelling the BJP as corrupt ahead of the 2023 Assembly polls. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Mr. Shivakumar received Mr. Gandhi at the airport and accompanied him to the court.
