Mangaluru: Karnataka state BJP president Nalin Kumar Kateel on Thursday mounted a sharp attack on former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah for terming as "too little" the state government's latest relief package to farmers and weaker sections and accused him of playing politics during COVID-19 crisis.
Congratulating Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa for the special package announced for agriculturists, flower growers, weavers, barbers and other deprived sections, he said it was regrettable that Siddaramaiah has come out against it. Yediyurappa on Wednesday announced a Rs 1,610 crore package, including a one-time compensation of Rs 5,000 each to thousands of washermen, barbers, auto-rickshaw and taxi drivers and Rs 25,000 per hectare for affected flower growers.
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Siddaramaiah in a series of tweets has termed the package as "Too little, too late" and accused the chief minister of "completely ignoring farmers". Referring to Siddaramaiah's reported comment that a flower grower spends Rs 50 lakh per acre, Kateel said it was surprising that the Congress leader, who had held the Finance portfolio and presented several budgets, does not have the basic knowledge about the money spent by farmers and flower growers.
The Dakshina Kannada MP alleged that Siddaramaiah was playing politics at a difficult time when the state had been trying its best to tackle the Covid crisis. As an experienced politician, he should have welcomed the initiative of the state government, Kateel said. The state BJP chief alleged that Siddaramaiah had not provided any relief to farmers during his rule though there were a number of farmer's suicides reported from different parts of the state then. (PTI report)
