Haveri: Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Friday accused former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah of misleading people by saying that 17 lakh houses were built for the Economically Weaker Section (EWS) during his tenure.
"Siddaramaiah has given a statement that he gave away 17 lakh houses when he was the chief minister. The fact is that he had only sanctioned 15 lakh houses on paper whereas he should have allocated funds too," Bommai told reporters in Hanagal.
Bommai was in Hanagal, his home district, to campaign for the BJP candidate Shivaraj Sajjanar contesting the Hanagal assembly bypoll.
"It is not a great achievement to sanction 15 lakh houses three months ahead of elections. If he had sanctioned it at the beginning of his tenure and completed it then it was a feat. Siddaramaiah is misleading people," Bommai said.
The Chief Minister said he has sanctioned four lakh houses in rural areas and one lakh in the urban areas since he took over and now the process to identify the beneficiaries has begun.
Also, at an election rally in Hanagal, Bommai alleged that Siddaramaiah's claim of giving rice under the 'Anna Bhagya' scheme could happen due to the subsidy provided by the Centre. He also said giving rice at subsidised rate has been going on since independence and there was nothing new about it.
Meanwhile, Siddaramaiah challenged Bommai to come for a debate in public on the issue of development of Hanagal and questioned his ability to be the Chief Minister of the state.
"The Nellur lake bund got damaged in 2018. If the tank bund could not be repaired in the past four years, then the people of this region will decide whether you are capable or incapable of becoming chief minister," Siddaramaiah said during an election rally in Hanagal.
"I call upon Bommai to come to a common platform where we can debate before people what we have done under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme," the senior congress leader said.
PTI
