'Siddaramaiah disappointed everyone', says Bommai after 1st Cabinet meeting

Bengaluru, May 20 (IANS) The new Congress government has failed the expectations of the people, former Karnataka chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai said on Saturday, adding the citizens of the state had high hopes regarding the outcome of the first meeting of the newly sworn-in Siddaramaiah-led cabinet.

"The women were ready to board the buses tomorrow for the free ride. But Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has disappointed everyone. Only the announcements were made but no dates announced for the implementation of the guarantee schemes," Bommai told reporters here.

"It was said things would be discussed in the next cabinet meeting. That means the decision was only to disappoint the people. Five guarantee schemes would cost Rs 50,000 crore. The new CM had no prior thinking about arranging the resources for the fulfillment of the guarantee schemes," Bommai said.

The BJP leader said that Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar had said not everyone would be given the guarantee schemes. "But he must not forget the fact that everyone has voted for the Congress Party. This shows how much respect they give to the voters.

"The Congress is slowly changing its colours. The Congress can start paying Rs 2,000 from tomorrow as the government has the details of the BPL card holders in the state. But the government is giving flimsy reasons for not giving 200 units of power to the citizens," he added.

The former CM said that the previous BJP government had already borrowed Rs 3 lakh crore as loan, and a reply on this was given in the Assembly.

"The borrowings of every state jumped due to the Covid pandemic. Siddaramaiah still talks as the Opposition leader. Now he has a lot of responsibility," Bommai said.

"The budget of the previous BJP government has details of the efforts made to increase revenue. Is Rs 50,000 crore a small amount required to fulfill the guarantee schemes?" Bommai wondered.

Meanwhile, the former chief minister said that a meeting of district leaders would be held on Sunday, and it would be followed by the BJP Legislature Party. He also added: "I have not thought about the Leader of the Opposition post in the Legislative Assembly."