'Publicity stunt', says BJP on Siddaramaiah govt's celebration of Kalyan Karnataka special status

Bengaluru, Sep 17 (IANS) Karnataka BJP has dubbed the special celebration organised by the Congress government in Kalaburagi to mark the completion of 10 years of according special status to Kalyan Karnataka region as a publicity stunt.

Leader of Opposition R. Ashoka posted on social media X on Tuesday, “The Karnataka Congress government, which is conducting cabinet meetings in Kalyana Karnataka to gain publicity, is betraying the people.”

“Has the money reserved for the development of the Kalyana Karnataka region remained untouched, or has it been diverted for Telangana election campaigns? Let Minister for RDPR, IT and BT Priyank Kharge have his team conduct a fact-check and inform the people of Kalyana Karnataka whether the promises made in the manifesto were just hollow words or if even a little has been implemented,” Ashoka slammed.

“Dear CM Siddaramaiah, will Kalyana Karnataka's development happen just by holding a cabinet meeting there? If you have even a little bit of conscience, answer these questions from the people of Kalyana Karnataka before conducting the cabinet meeting. In your party’s manifesto, you promised to allocate Rs 5,000 crore every year for the development of Kalyana Karnataka. How much have you allocated in the last two budgets for the region? How much of that fund has been released? How much has been spent?” Ashoka questioned.

"What happened to the promise of setting up an apparel park worth Rs 5,000 crore in Ballari? What happened to Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi's promise during his campaign speech to make Ballari the jeans capital?" Ashoka asked.

"You had promised to establish at least 100 PU (Class 12) colleges and one women’s degree college in each of the 41 constituencies of Kalyana Karnataka. Have at least one of these been established? You had promised to set up a Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar English medium school in Kalyana Karnataka. Has even one been established so far?" Ashoka questioned CM Siddaramaiah.

"You also promised to construct 2,500 new classrooms and fill all vacant teacher posts in Kalyana Karnataka within two years. How many teachers have been appointed in the last 15 months? How many classrooms have been built? Ashoka pointed out.

"Has the promise to allocate Rs 1 crore to every gram panchayat in Kalyana Karnataka been fulfilled? After coming to power, the Congress government has completely neglected Kalyana Karnataka. If the Congress government has any morality left, it should answer these questions before conducting a token cabinet meeting," Ashoka said.