Page 24 - Siddaramaiah

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Karnataka HC to hear petition seeking CM Siddaramaiah's disqualification

The petition filed by a voter from the Varuna constituency, KM Shankara, which came up for hearing on Friday, alleges that the Congress party promised freebies for luring voters

K'taka HC to hear petition seeking Siddaramaiah's disqualification July 28

The High Court of Karnataka has said that it will hear on July 28 a petition challenging the election of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to the Assembly from Varuna constituency. The petition blames the election manifesto of the Congress party which promised five 'guarantees' as corrupt practices amounting to bribery and also undue influence under Section 123(2) of the Representation of the People Act. The petition alleges that Siddaramaiah had breached the provisions of the Constitution and the rules and guidelines under The Representation of the People Act. The petition claims that the The said guarantees are in the nature of offer and promises made by the candidate and by the Indian National Congress party. This was done with the consent of the respondent (Siddaramaiah). They are in the form of gratification to the electorate of Varuna Constituency and with the object of directly inducing the electorate to vote for the Congress party candidate namely the respondent. The consideratio

K'taka govt to spend Rs 52,000 cr schemes, retain fiscal deficit at 2.6%

The new regime raised the projection of nominal GSDP growth to 17.7 per cent against seven per cent by the previous BJP government for the current financial year

Govt to take firm decision on anti-farmer agriculture laws: CM Siddaramaiah

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Monday said the government will take a firm decision on the anti-farmer agricultural laws implemented by the previous BJP government in the state. Speaking to a delegation of farmers led by legislators B R Patil and Darshan Puttannaiah, who met him today, Siddaramaiah said the government will take decisions to protect the interest of farmers. The Land Reforms Act has been discussed and a clear decision will be taken within the next session. There was a discussion in the House today about the amendment of the APMC Act. He said that a separate meeting will be held to discuss the problems of farmers in detail, a statement issued by the Chief Minister's office said.

May Oppn meeting lead to restoration of democratic values: K'taka CM

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Monday expressed hope that the meeting of Opposition parties here would lead to restoration of secular, socialist, and democratic values as enshrined in the Constitution. He welcomed the leaders of "prominent" opposition leaders in the country who have come together to fight against authoritarianism, communalism, and corruption. "May the seeds sown in this peaceful garden of harmony (Karnataka) bear the fruit to restore secular, socialist, and democratic values as enshrined in our Constitution," the Chief Minister said in a tweet. Leaders representing 23 parties looking to draw up plans for a joint fight against the BJP in the Lok Sabha elections next year, are expected to attend Tuesday's meeting.

Mamata to skip oppn dinner on Mon, to take part in discussion on Tue

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee will not be attending an opposition dinner on July 17 as she has to follow post-surgery protocols, but will be part of the daylong meeting of the parties on July 18, sources in her Trinamool Congress (TMC) said on Saturday. Banerjee underwent a microsurgery on her left knee at the state-run SSKM hospital in Kolkata on Thursday. The TMC chief suffered a ligament injury on her left knee during the emergency landing of her helicopter at the Sevoke Airbase in north Bengal on June 27. "While her doctors have given her the permission to fly and attend the opposition summit, she has been advised rest. So she will skip the dinner, but will attend the daylong meeting on July 18," a source in the TMC said. A dinner for the opposition parties has been planned by Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah in Bengaluru on July 17. TMC's national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee and Rajya Sabha MP Derek O'Brien will be accompanying the West Bengal chief .

Karnataka CM, leaders protest against Rahul Gandhi's disqualification

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and his deputy D K Shivakumar along with a host of ministers, legislators and Congress top leaders in the state on Wednesday staged a "silent protest" here against the disqualification of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi from Parliament and the "politics of vendetta" unleashed by the Centre. This comes days after the party stated it would move the Supreme Court after the Gujarat High Court refused to stay Gandhi's conviction in a 2019 defamation case over his "Modi surname remarks. The protestors tied a black ribbon on their mouth to symbolically convey that the freedom of speech was in danger and anyone speaking against the Central government would face backlash. Siddaramaiah, Shivakumar and others held placards at the Freedom Park here with the photograph of Rahul Gandhi and a message that the "roar of the truth must prevail". Alleging that the BJP deployed "dirty tricks" to disqualify Rahul Gandhi from Parliament, the All India Congress Committe

2.2 mn BPL families may not get DBT benefit under Anna Bhagya scheme

As Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah is set to launch Direct Benefit Transfer under the Anna Bhagya scheme on Monday, about 22 lakh families living Below Poverty Line (BPL) may not get the assistance immediately as they do not have bank accounts. Karnataka has 1.28 crore ration card of Antyodaya Anna Yojana and Priority Households and 99 per cent of these cards are seeded with Aadhaar numbers. Among them, 82 per cent comprising 1.06 crore of these cards are linked with active bank accounts. The cash will be transfered to those card holders. The remaining card holders will be intimated to open new accounts," an official statement said on Sunday. A total of 1.27 crore ration cards have one member designated as Head of the Households (HoH). "Cash will be transferred to the bank accounts of these HoH. Of them 94 per cent are women and five per cent are men," it said. The Congress had promised to give 10 kg rice to each BPL family member in the state under the Anna Bhagya scheme if

Gig workers to get insurance cover of Rs 4 lakh in K'taka: CM Siddaramaiah

Gig workers serving as delivery personnel in e-commerce companies will get an insurance facility of Rs four lakh, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said in his budget speech in the Legislative Assembly on Friday. The amount will comprise Rs two lakh as life insurance and Rs two lakh as accident insurance. The entire insurance premium will be borne by the state government, the chief minister, who also holds the finance portfolio, said. In order to provide social security to the 'gig workers' in the unorganised sector, ie, employed as full-time or part-time delivery personnel in e-commerce companies like Swiggy, Zomato, Amazon etc, insurance facility of total Rs four lakh will be provided Siddaramaiah said. Subsidy and benefits will be given to registered beneficiaries and their dependents through the Karnataka Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board, he said.

K'taka to spend Rs 52k cr annually on 5 key promises, to benefit 13 mn

Seeking to highlight the Congress party's poll promises, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Friday said approximately Rs 52,000 crore would be spent annually for the five key poll 'guarantees' and it is expected to benefit 1.3 crore families. Presenting the 2023-2024 budget, with an outlay of over Rs 3.27 lakh crore, in the Legislative Assembly, he said through the five 'guarantees' (poll promises), the government will be providing an average additional financial assistance of Rs 4,000 to Rs 5,000 a month to each household. The five 'guarantees' related to free bus travel for women, 200 units of free electricity, 10 kilograms of free foodgrains to the poor, Rs 2,000 for the woman head of the house and unemployment benefit of up to Rs 3,000. According to some political analysts, these pre-poll promises found resonance with the electorate leading to the Congress' resounding victory in the Assembly elections. In the polls to the 224-member Assembly, the Congress bagged 135 seats

Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah set to present State Budget today at 12 noon

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has arrived at Vidhana Soudha in Bengaluru to present the state budget

Cong deceived people with 'misleading poll guarantees': BJP to K'taka govt

The BJP attacked the Congress government in the Assembly on Wednesday, alleging that it deceived the people with their "misleading poll guarantees", which are now replete with conditions. The party claimed that the Siddaramaiah government is fast losing its popularity as people are no longer relying on its guarantees. Former deputy Chief Minister R Ashoka sought to pick holes in the five 'guarantees' promised in the Congress party's election manifesto. He alleged that the government introduced numerous conditions in these guarantees and limited the number of beneficiaries. Ashoka charged that these conditions in the guarantees are creating confusion among people. Referring to the 'Shakti' scheme offering free rides for women in government buses, Ashoka noted that the Congress manifesto did not mentions any conditions but after coming to power, the government said the scheme is available only in non-luxury buses. Ashoka accused the government of plying only a limited number of buses

K'taka assemby adjourns after BJP protests over 'failure' of govt

The Karnataka assembly was adjourned briefly on Tuesday following protests by the opposition BJP over alleged delay in implementation of five guarantees made by the ruling Congress ahead of the elections. BJP MLAs trooped into the well of the House and raised slogans against the ruling Congress, leading to a brief adjournment by Speaker U T Khader. The proceedings began with the Speaker allowing the star question to be raised. Accordingly, Congress MLA Shivalinge Gowda rose to raise the question. However, former Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai demanded acceptance of adjournment motion and discussion on the issue in place of the question hour. Joining him, BJP MLA R Ashoka accused the government of "cheating" people in the name of five guarantees. Soon other saffron party legislators too raised their voice demanding that their submission be allowed first. The speaker repeatedly appealed to the opposition BJP to allow the Question Hour to take place, but to no avail. Deputy Chief

BJP to protest in K'taka against govt's 'failure' to fulfill poll promises

The opposition BJP in Karnataka will stage protests against the alleged delay in implementation of the five poll promises made by the ruling Congress in the run-up to the assembly elections. The agitation will take place both inside and outside the assembly simultaneously from Tuesday till July 14 when the session ends seeking effective implementation of the guarantees, according to BJP sources. While the BJP legislative party will hold the demonstration inside the assembly, former chief ministers B S Yediyurappa, Basavaraj Bommai, D V Sadananda Gowda, BJP state president Nalin Kumar Kateel will stage a protest at the Freedom Park. The second day of the assembly session is expected to be stormy if the BJP goes ahead with its plans. The saffron party has been targetting the Congress especially over the implementation of 'Anna Bhagya' scheme, which provides 5 kg grains to the Below Poverty Line (BPL) families. Due to unavailability of required amount of rice, the Siddaramaiah ...

BJP yet to elect Oppn leader, is most indisciplined party: CM Siddaramaiah

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Monday said the BJP yet to elect the leader of opposition in the Legislative Assembly shows there is groupism in that outfit and dubbed it as the "most indisciplined" political party. "It clearly shows that there is groupism among them," he told reporters in response to a question. The BJP calls itself as a disciplined party but it's the "most indisciplined party", Siddaramaiah alleged. The budget session of the Karnataka Legislature began on Monday with the BJP yet to elect its leader in the lower House. The BJP president J P Nadda has appointed Union minister Mansukh Mandaviya and party general secretary Vinod Tawde as central observers for the election. BJP chief spokesperson and Rajya Sabha MP Anil Baluni said the two central leaders will be visiting the state to oversee the election of the party's leader in the state assembly by its MLAs. Following its loss to the Congress in the state polls, the BJP is yet to elect its leader in the

Karnataka CM vows to get caste-wise census report commissioned in 1st stint

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Sunday vowed to get the caste-wise census report which he had commissioned during his first stint as CM from 2013-18. He said the caste-based census was a must to bring those communities in the mainstream of the society who were subjected to injustice due to casteism. Siddaramaiah alleged that the then Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy during whose tenure (May 2018-July 2019) the caste-based census report was ready, scuttled its tabling by threatening the then Backward Classes Welfare Minister C Puttaranga Shetty. Speaking after performing the ground-breaking ceremony of Sri Kaginele Mahasansthan Kanaka Gurupeeth, here today, Siddaramaiah said the Kuruba (shepherds) community, which he belonged to, constitute about seven per cent of the total population of the state. "We are seven per cent in the total population (in the state), which means that out of seven crore population, we are 49 lakh. That's why to find out the caste-wise population I h

Seers in Karnataka oppose repeal of anti-conversion, cow slaughter laws

Heads of various mutts in Dakshina Kannada district have strongly opposed the decision of the Karnataka government to repeal anti-conversion law and the cow slaughter prevention Act. The meeting of the seers condemned the recent statements by some ministers on the move to withdraw Karnataka Protection of Right to Freedom of Religion Act and amend Karnataka Prevention of Slaughter and Preservation of Cattle Act, Gurudevananda Swami of Odiyuru Mutt told reporters here on Friday. The seers called upon Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar not to go ahead with any move to change the Acts as it will lead to social unrest in Dakshina Kannada and other districts of Karnataka. Terming the move as anti-Hindu,' Gurudevananda Swami said the government should not hurt the sentiments of Hindus. He also threatened that the seers will go on a hunger strike if the government proceeds with the move. The seers will submit a memorandum to the Governor, Chief Minister,

Welfare programmes for minorities to be resumed: Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah

A delegation of the Central Council of the Minority Muslim Thinkers, Chavadi, of Karnataka State met him on Friday and discussed various issues, said the government

Cabinet entrusts Siddaramaiah with appointing members for 3 sub-committees

The Karnataka Cabinet on Wednesday entrusted Chief Minister Siddaramaiah with constituting three Cabinet sub-committees to deal with three areas, namely irrigation projects, withdrawal of criminal cases, and for giving thrust to investment in the state. Briefing reporters here, Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister H K Patil said that one of the sub-committees that the CM has been entrusted with constituting is for the implementation of various projects on river Krishna, Cauvery, Mahadayi and other rivers. That sub-committee will also look into the implementation of various court and tribunal orders related to these river projects. Another sub-committee would be formed to withdraw criminal cases, as various individuals and organisations have made such requests regarding cases related to various agitations, Patil said. The minister said the chief minister will appoint members for it. He added that duration for the withdrawal of cases is not specified. The third sub-committee will