CM Siddaramaiah: The State’s first budget since the May 10 elections, when Congress took power in the State, will be presented by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on July 7. His 14th budget overall will be this one. Since there is a great deal of interest in how Siddaramaiah will make the allocations necessary to achieve the five pre-election guarantees of Congress, all eyes are on the budget. Additionally, it is anticipated to put more emphasis on generating more money, which is essential to paying for the promises. On July 3, Siddaramaiah remarked that the State Budget size is likely to be about 3.3 lakh crore to 3.35 lakh crore this year. He indicated that approximately 59,000 crore to 60,000 crore is required annually to fund the five pre-poll assurances of the Congress. There are also rumours that the administration may scrap certain outdated programmes to ease the strain on the exchequer. Additionally, funding for Bengaluru development, which is within the deputy chief minister D.K. Shivakumar’s purview, is being closely watched.
Karnataka’s Budget Proposal Calls for Increased Excise Duty
Beer and other alcoholic beverages will cost more in Karnataka as the state administration on Friday suggested raising additional excise duty in the budget for 2023–24 that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah submitted to the Legislative Assembly. Siddaramaiah, who is in charge of the finance portfolio, suggested raising the levy on alcoholic beverages made outside of India (IMFL) by 20% across all 18 categories. Additionally, he suggested raising the tax on beer from 175% to 185%. Through five election promises, the Karnataka government will give each household an average of an additional 4,000 to 5,000 rupees in financial aid each month. The state budget for Karnataka was presented by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah today at noon in the legislature. This is the first budget to be presented after Congress took control of the state following its resounding victory in the state’s assembly elections on May 10. Notably, this would be Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s seventh budget. During his time as the state’s chief executive from 2013 to 2018, he has already submitted six budgets. Massive agitation has been present during the current assembly session since the first day over a variety of topics, including the Congress party’s poll assurances. Notably, Congress has already begun implementing three of its five polling guarantee programmes and is requesting more time to do so for the remaining two.
Opposition demands fair investigation and agriculture minister’s resignation
The Karnataka Legislative Assembly was in disarray on Thursday as the government and the Opposition traded accusations and denials over a bus driver/conductor’s suicide attempt. According to news agency PTI, former chief minister and BJP leader Basavaraj Bommai blamed agriculture minister N Chaluvarayaswamy for the driver’s desperate act. Bommai asked a fair investigation into the incident and the resignation of the minister, noting examples of when resignations were requested in similar situations in the past. The BJP spokesman mentioned the case of deputy superintendent of police M K Ganapathy, whose suicide in 2016 prompted then-Home Minister K J George to quit because he was linked to the officer’s accusations. According to the PTI report, Bommai also brought up the resignation of BJP minister K S Eshwarappa as a result of the death of a contractor and allegations that he had demanded commissions.
Former Karnataka CM Kumaraswamy blames Congress administration for tragedy, cites pattern of threats
H D Kumaraswamy, a former chief minister of Karnataka and leader of the JD(S), criticised the Congress administration for the tragedy because it happened just 50 days after it took office. He drew attention to a pattern of officials and staff members being threatened with dismissal or transfer, particularly with some regions’ forthcoming Panchayat elections. According to Kumaraswamy, the Panchayat member’s wife, a KSRTC employee, had to endure excessive pressure before her husband took severe action. In support of his claim, he used the employee’s’suicide note’ as proof that the employee had claimed Minister Chaluvarayaswamy had planned his transfer.
Kumaraswamy presents alleged evidence of ‘Congress’s transfer racket’ in pen drive
A pen drive containing what JD(S) leader HD Kumaraswamy claimed to be evidence of the “Congress’s transfer racket” was displayed to media members earlier on Wednesday. He said that the pendrive had an audio tape of an allegedly corrupt minister’s chat. When the moment is right, he added, he will disclose the pen drive. ‘I have the proof with me in my pocket. It is always available for release. I won’t reveal anything without the right details.’ The former chief minister of Karnataka declared, ‘Everything on how a minister collected money for the placement of administrative officers is here.’
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