No funds to states against vikas, says Modi: K'taka CM tells him to read Constitution

Siddaramaiah told PM that central funds were not charity, but a state's right.

news Politics

In yet another incident of friction between the Union government and the Congress-led Karnataka government, CM Siddaramaiah took a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday accusing the PM of lacking understanding of the Constitution.

In response to PM Modi’s speech on Sunday where he had said, “We will not give a single penny to those opposing development,” the CM tweeted —“This shows a lack of understanding of Constitution. What Center gives states is not charity. It is our right.”

This shows a lack of understanding of Constitution. What center gives states is not charity. It is our right. https://t.co/9wIFU8YT8W October 23, 2017

On Sunday, Modi was addressing a rally in Gujarat’s Vadodara, where he had said, “We are clear in our working. Each penny of the public money will be spent towards the wellbeing of every citizen and for development projects. Our priority is development,” PM Modi said.

He also spoke about how favourable governments at the Centre helped Gujarat while previous Union governments had not.

In the media report, PM Modi is also said to have attacked the Congress for being critical of the Election Commission of India in delaying the announcement of Gujarat poll dates.

Earlier in June, the Congress government in Karnataka had lashed out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for not waiving off farm loans.

On June 22, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah announced Rs 8,165 crore farm loans in the state. Siddaramaiah had also urged the Centre to waive loans from commercial and nationalised banks worth more than Rs 42,000 crore.

However, the Centre had turned down the state government’s request. The Union Agriculture Department in that same month had granted Rs 795 crore aid to Karnataka from the National Disaster Response Fund.