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He said the Congress should be held accountable for the poverty in the country which could not elevate the status of the poor during its 60 years of rule at the Centre and in states.
”We are not opposed to the five Guarantees but my basic question is that the Congress had ruled the Centre and the state for 55 years to 60 years. Who is accountable for those who remained poor even after so many decades of independence? It is the Congress only. If a farmer is struggling for two square meals, it is due to the Congress,” the Shikaripura MLA said during a discussion in the Karnataka Assembly.
Vijayendra said the benefits of the five guarantees have not yet reached even 30 per cent of beneficiaries.
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More than 800 farmers have committed suicide but the government through Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot said that the farmers’ suicides had come down this year, Vijayendra, son of former chief minister B S Yediyurappa, said.
He slammed the statement of Minister Shivanand Patil, who allegedly said farmers are committing suicide as the government has increased compensation to be paid to next of kin in such cases.
”I am not saying that farmers’ suicides had not happened in the past and is taking place only now but I want to point out how serious the government is towards the agrarian problem,” the BJP state chief said.
Interrupting him, Congress MLA Nayana Motamma from Mudigere sought to know if the BJP was so serious about the agrarian problem, why farmers were camping on the border of the national capital to press for their demands.
Vijayendra also said the Congress government doesn’t have any moral right to speak about the Constitution when the party allegedly did not pay its respects during the last rites of Dr B R Ambedkar.
”The permission for Dr Ambedkar’s last rites in Delhi was denied with a malafide intention that people should visit Rajghat and not Ambedkar’s tomb,” he alleged.
Minister for Social Welfare H C Mahadevappa objected to the statement saying it was Ambedkar’s family which did not wish to perform his last rites in Delhi. Vijayendra alleged the state government staged the ‘drama’ called ‘Delhi Chalo’ against the Central government to cover up its failures.
Ministers and legislators led by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah took part in the dharna in Delhi on February 7 alleging ”economic injustice.” The BJP MLA demanded that the money spent on the ‘Delhi Chalo’ advertisement in various newspapers should be recovered from the officer who issued it as it was a political event.