Only Cong. can sustain growth momentum that Karnataka has witnessed, says P. Chidambaram

Former Union Finance Minister P. Chidambaram on Wednesday said people should vote for the Congress to sustain the development momentum that has been achieved by its government in the last five years.

It is also essential for people to vote Congress back to power to “confront the design of the RSS-BJP dispensation to wreck the federal system, weaken the States, and impose their pernicious agenda of one nation, one history, one culture, one religion, one language and one code of behaviour.”

He told reporters here that Karnataka had achieved 8% growth in gross state domestic product at constant prices, from Rs. 6,43,292 crore in 2013-14 to Rs. 9,49,111 crore in 2017-18. The per capita income in current prices has increased from Rs. 77,309 to Rs. 1,74,551, a growth of 125%.

Unemployment in Karnataka is the lowest at 2.6% against the national average of 5.9% and Gujarat record of 5%. The average fiscal deficit was 2.26% in the last five years of Congress rule while the average surplus was 0.8% in revenue account.. As development and welfare moved hand-in-hand, the spend on social sector has consistently been over 40%.

Mr. Chidambaram said all these were because of a stable government under Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and people should vote for Congress if they wish to sustain the growth and development.

On the other hand, BJP provided a weak and unstable government with three Chief Ministers between 2008-2013 when it had 110 legislators. “It was the worst government Karnataka has ever seen. The three former Chief Ministers are again in the forefront of the present campaign but are unable to quote even one of their achievements,” Mr. Chidambaram chided.

He noted that the RSS-BJP dispensation has several ‘mischievous’ designs, including the one towards the 15th Finance Commission. The terms of reference to the Commission by the Narendra Modi government distorted and violated Constitutional provisions, being biased against States that were governed well in the past and are relatively developed. If the terms are followed by the Commission, the share of Central funds would sharply decline, thereby affecting States like Karnataka, he cautioned.