Siddu attacks Centre over Karnataka's drought memorandum submission

Bengaluru: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Tuesday accused Union Home Minister Amit Shah of lying over the state’s submission of the drought memorandum to the Centre.

“Dear Home Minister Amit Shah, it seems you have lied again by saying Karnataka has delayed the submission of the drought memorandum. Aap Chronology Samjhiye. As per the Drought Manual 2020 guidelines, a state can declare an early-season drought only during August,” Siddaramaiah posted on X.

Earlier on Tuesday, while addressing BJP workers in Bengaluru, Amit Shah said that the Karnataka government had submitted the drought memorandum to the Centre late by three months. Because of this, he said, the petition of the Centre to release drought relief is stuck with the Election Commission.

Countering this, CM Siddaramaiah wrote on X that the state submitted the 1st Memorandum to the Ministry of Agriculture and Ministry of Home Affairs on September 23, 2023.

“4th to 9th October 2023: After the submission of the 1st Memorandum, the IMCT team visited Karnataka to assess the ground situation. 20th November 2023: The Agriculture Ministry sent the proposal of Karnataka, with the recommendation of the subcommittee of the National Executive Committee, for placing before the High-Level Committee, which the Home Minister chairs. 19th December 2023: I and Revenue Minister @krishnabyregowda met Prime Minister @narendramodi. 20th December 2023: I and Revenue Minister met with you,” Siddaramaiah further wrote.

He said that from November 2023 till date, the Union Home Ministry did not take any action over the matter, while “our 35 lakh farmers, having suffered from crop & income losses, are waiting for an input subsidy of over 4,663 crores.”

“When these are the facts, it is really surprising that you should so blatantly lie to the people of Karnataka,” he said.

(With ANI inputs)