The Congress-led Karnataka government staged a protest here on Wednesday against the Centre, accusing it of disparity in allocation of grants to the Southern state.
Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar, state ministers, MLAs and party leaders and workers under the “Chalo Delhi’’ movement, held the demonstration at the Jantar Mantar and demanded a judicious share of resources and funds for the state.
Addressing the gathering, the Chief Minister said, “We are raising the issue of discrimination meted out by the Government of India against the state of Karnataka. The state is number two as far as tax collection is concerned. Maharashtra is number one. As a matter of fact this year, Karnataka is contributing more than Rs 4.30 lakh crore as tax. If we collect Rs 100 and give it to the Government of India, we are only getting Rs 12 to 13 back.”
“Is this not an injustice to the people of Karnataka ? That is why we are here (in Delhi),” Siddaramaiah said.
Echoing similar sentiments, Shivakumar said, “Karnataka is the second biggest state which is giving the highest revenue to this country. We are asking for our rights. We are asking for our share.’’
“We are the voice of Karnataka. We are the representatives of Karnataka. We have come here to show that we all are fighting for the cause of the people of Karnataka,” he said.
The Deputy Chief Minister also claimed that the Karnataka government had requested drought relief funds from the Centre , but not even a single rupee has been given.
Karnataka minister Priyank Kharge said, “We are here to protect interests of Kannadigas on the devolution of taxes and on the drought relief that has not been provided, among other things.’’