Chief Minister Siddaramaiah speaking in the Legislative Assembly in Bengaluru on Monday.
| Photo Credit: special arrangement
Strongly denying the Opposition’s allegations that he had been reduced to being “helpless”, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Monday reiterated that it was not the case, but “sometimes truth becomes helpless before falsehood.”
Replying to a debate in the Assembly on the motion of thanks to the Governor’s address to a joint session of the legislature, the Chief Minister said: “Sometimes the situation makes us express helplessness. Truth becomes helpless before falsehood”.
‘Same Siddaramaiah’
Insisting that he had not changed and remained as strong as he was in his earlier stint, Mr. Siddaramaiah said: “I am the same Siddaramaiah, and I will continue to be the same Siddaramaiah.”
He maintained that the administrative machinery had neither derailed nor had it been insensitive as was being portrayed by the Opposition. Listing a series of works taken up by his government, he wondered if his government would have shelved the notification for acquisition of 1,770 acres of farmland in Devanahalli taluk for the proposed aerospace park by heeding to the farmers’ demand if it was insensitive.
Denying the allegations of the Opposition that his government had burdened people by indiscriminately increasing taxes on various products and services, the Chief Minister listed the prices of petrol and diesel to prove that their prices were the lowest in Karnataka compared with neighbouring States. Similar was the case with stamp duty and registration charges, he maintained.
Compare right
He also sought to question the Opposition’s claims that the NDA government led by Narendra Modi had given more grants to Karnataka than the erstwhile UPA government led by Manmohan Singh. Asking the Opposition to compare these grants with the size of the Central Budget and not by sheer numbers, the Chief Minister said the cumulative size of the Central Budgets of the 10-year-rule of the UPA government was only ₹95.21 lakh crore as against the ₹380 lakh crore of the 12-year-rule of the Modi-led government.
Reiterating allegations that Karnataka had lost ₹1.25 lakh crore over five years as the 15th Finance Commission had reduced the State’s share of Central funds from the earlier 4.71% to 3.64%, he said changed GST slabs too had resulted in Karnataka suffering an annual loss of ₹18,000 crore to ₹20,000 crore.
He told the Opposition members that it was their responsibility too to demand that the Centre should give these funds.
He said though Karnataka gives a tax of ₹4.5 lakh crore to ₹5 lakh crore to the Centre, it was getting a meagre return of ₹55,000 crore to ₹60,000 crore.
While the Opposition members staged a walkout expressing dissatisfaction over the Chief Minister’s reply, the motion of thanks to the Governor’s address was adopted through a voice vote.
Governor skipped even jai samvidhan: CM
The Hindu Bureau
BENGALURU
Taking exception to Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot not fully reading his speech to the joint session of the legislature, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Monday wondered why the Governor had not even read the sentence “Jai Samvidhan.”
“We had stated in the Governor’s speech that Karnataka has not got justice in devolution of funds by the Centre. Is it not a fact or is it anti-Constitutional to be skipped?” the Chief Minister asked. “The Governor left in a hurry after skipping several paragraphs of the speech. At least he should have stayed till the national anthem was played.”
Raising the issue in the Legislative Council too, he said, “You can oppose an ideology but not the Constitution. No one is above the Constitution.”
Published – February 03, 2026 01:06 am IST
