‘There is no Modi factor…He is frustrated, desperate, making all kinds of statements, misleading on quota’: Siddaramaiah

“The policy of giving reservation to Muslims was started in 1994... on the basis of a backward classes commission report. It is regarded as being in tune with the Constitution”: Karnataka CM

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah. (PTI Photo)

Since April 26, when 14 seats in south Karnataka voted in the second phase of the Lok Sabha polls, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has been camping in the state’s north, where the remaining 14 seats will vote on May 7.

The OBC leader who enjoys the support of minorities and the poor across Karnataka is seen as posing a serious challenge to the BJP, which won all these 14 seats in 2019. The Congress is hoping to do well especially in the impoverished Kalyan Karnataka region (Hyderabad-Karnataka), where the Siddaramaiah government’s guarantee schemes are getting traction.

Siddaramaiah spoke to The Indian Express in Kalaburagi, just before a heli-hopping tour of the region. Excerpts:

The Centre has just approved Rs 3,500 crore of the Rs 18,000 crore drought relief sought by Karnataka. Why is your government calling it too little, too late?

The Central government has not approved the drought relief on its own. We went to the Supreme Court, and the Court said that in a federal system, states should not have to approach courts… Earlier the Centre delayed the matter for over seven months and did not release a single paisa. What they have given is only 19% of the amount that we sought.

We are going to take up the issue in the Supreme Court. We are going to say that the situation in Karnataka is quite bad for farmers, 48 lakh hectares of crop loss has occurred. The Court has sought the report of a Central team… it will decide the relief on the basis of it.

The relief has (also) come very late. We sought it in September 2023… It is a form of step motherly treatment.

Apart from issues like farm distress in parts of Karnataka, is the Modi factor also at work?

There is no Modi factor in these polls in Karnataka or India. People now see that Modi does not implement promises… The country is not making economic progress. The problems of the poor, farmers and women have not been addressed. There is price rise, unemployment…

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Narendra Modi does not speak about what he has done about all this… He has become frustrated and is making all kinds of statements… He is talking about the Congress snatching reservations meant for OBCs and SCs/STs and giving them to Muslims. He is trying to mislead… For the sake of votes, nobody should stoop to this level of politics.

Do you agree that the current Lok Sabha elections in Karnataka are essentially a battle between the image of PM Modi and the Congress’s five guarantee schemes for the poor?

The guarantee schemes have reached the people… A family gets Rs 5,000-6,000 per month. Confidence has built up among the people… they will vote for the Congress as a result.

The BJP says that under its guarantees, the Congress government is diverting the 24% budgeted funds for the welfare of SCs/STs to the general poor.

What moral right do they have to speak about the Karnataka SCSP/TSP (Scheduled Caste Sub Allocation and Tribal Sub Allocation Planning) law? Has Narendra Modi done it until now?… Have they done it in any BJP-ruled state – this plan allocating development funds on the basis of population? We did it in 2013… They have not done it but are spreading lies.

Another Karnataka policy being raised at the national level by the BJP is the 4% reservation that was available to Muslims under the OBC quota in the state (the previous BJP government changed it).

This policy of giving reservation to Muslims was started in 1994… on the basis of a backward classes commission report. It is regarded as being in tune with the Constitution, not unconstitutional or illegal. After this policy was cancelled by the Basavaraj Bommai (ahead of the Assembly elections in 2023), the Muslim community went to the Supreme Court. In Court, the same Bommai gave an undertaking that it will continue the policy… After this undertaking in Court, they are speaking against the policy… The PM is desperate.

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The Congress has fielded family members of at least eight ministers and leaders for the Lok Sabha polls.

At the local level in a parliament constituency, the names are decided based on feedback as to who would be the best candidate… It is not that we have (only) picked the children of ministers and relatives. We have also picked party workers. In Mysore, we gave the ticket to M Lakshman (a local leader and spokesperson).

The Congress guarantees seem to have more of a resonance in Karnataka than in other states, especially in the North.

In the North, it is the failures of 10 years of the Modi government that will have a bearing. When… you are resorting to divisive politics again, will the people not be conscious about the mistakes?

You said in your Assembly constituency Varuna that the Lok Sabha polls will have a bearing on your future as the CM.

I was not speaking about my own future. What I was trying to say was that they (the voters of Varuna) helped me win by 48,000 votes. I said they must give a lead of 60,000 votes now… that if they do not do it, I will not be strengthened politically.