Bengaluru: “The sole reason the central government led by Narendra Modi is pursuing a policy of betrayal against Karnataka is that a non-BJP government is in power in the state,” Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has strongly alleged.

“In the last two and a half years, the central government has not only cheated Karnataka by denying its rightful share of taxes, but has also neglected Kannadigas by refusing funds and approvals for all kinds of development projects, including irrigation, railways, and highways,” he said.

“Siddaramaiah criticised that the threat issued by BJP national president J.P.Nadda during the Assembly elections – that those who do not vote for the BJP will be denied Prime Minister Modi’s blessings – appears to have now been put into practice by the central government.”

“Leaders from Karnataka who won as BJP MPs and became ministers at the Centre have neither the courage to speak against this discriminatory attitude in front of the Prime Minister nor any concern for the people who voted for them. While they spread hate in a loud voice on public platforms, their hands and legs tremble the moment they face Modi,” he remarked sarcastically.

“Even as injustice is being meted out to Kannadigas, the conduct of the JD(S) and its leader H.D.Kumaraswamy – who are behaving like subordinates of the central government purely for self-interest instead of raising their voice against it – is disgusting. Must one bow down so much just for a ministerial post? This is not my question alone; it is the question of every aggrieved Kannadiga,” Chief Minister Siddaramaiah clarified.