siddaramaiah accepted the burden on karnataka treasury due to guarantees

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah admitted that the five guarantees implemented by his government were putting a burden on the state exchequer. But it made it clear that the initiative will not stop and will continue for five years. His statement comes amid the controversy over Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge advising his party’s state units to make only promises that are fiscally viable, which was seen in relation to Congress-ruled states including Karnataka. He said that in our 2024-25 budget, we have earmarked Rs 1.20 crore for development works. Of this, Rs 56,000 crore has been allocated for guarantees and more than Rs 60,000 crore for development works. Naturally, this will be a burden on the state exchequer.

But, we are managing without stopping the development work, and we are meeting all the expenses. (PM) Narendra Modi himself had given a statement in Rajasthan that if this guarantee is implemented, the Karnataka government will go bankrupt and there will be no money for development works. This is what he said. We came to power in May 2023 and we have fully implemented all the guarantee schemes. Asked about Kharge’s comment on election concessions, Siddaramaiah claimed that his statement was misinterpreted. He also rejected BJP’s allegations that Congress-ruled Himachal Pradesh and TelangaNor are governments unable to pay salaries to government officials due to the implementation of welfare schemes.

Siddaramaiah said Revanth Reddy (Chief Minister of Telangana), Sukhvinder Sukhu (Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh) and DK Shivakumar (Deputy Chief Minister of Karnataka) had addressed the media and clarified that no development work has been stopped. Their governments have paid salaries to their officials.