Chief Minister Siddaramaiah speaking in the Legislative Assembly on Thursday.
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
The issue of the Centre not selling additional rice to Karnataka to implement the Anna Bhagya scheme, which aims at providing 10 kg of rice a month to each member of BPL and Antyodaya families, triggered a war of words between the Congress and BJP members, resulting in pandemonium in the Assembly on Thursday.
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah led the Congress attack, along with Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar, and senior Ministers. A visibly angry Chief Minister told the BJP members that they should be ashamed that the Centre had refused to give additional rice meant for ensuring that poor people did not go to bed on an empty stomach. The BJP members, led by former Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, hit back, shouting slogans against the government before staging a walkout.
It all started when Mr. Siddaramaiah was replying to the debate in the House on the motion of thanks to the Governor’s address.
Taking exception to the Centre rejecting the request for additional rice, though the Food Corporation of India had excess stock, the Chief Minister said such an act had shown that the Centre was not in favour of the flagship programme being taken up to fight hunger and ensure food security of poor people.
“They are intentionally doing this as part of political vendetta. I have a strong suspicion that the local BJP leaders may have brought pressure on the Centre to not give rice to us,” the Chief Minister said.
This created a ruckus, as the BJP members accused the Congress government of hoodwinking people in the name of guarantees. They also alleged that the Congress government was unnecessarily trying to blame the Centre.
They even accused the State government of taking away 2 kg of rice from the Central quota of 5 kg which is being given every month. “We have come to know that the State is providing ragi as an alternative to 2 kg of rice from the Central quota,” Mr. Bommai said, even as the Chief Minister denied the charge.
The exchange reached a crescendo when the Chief Minister remarked that people of the State had taught a lesson to the BJP by defeating it in the recent Assembly elections.
The BJP members finally staged a walkout, accusing the Chief Minister of failure to properly implement the major poll promises.