Alleging that the Congress-JD(S) coalition government was trying to borrow more money than permitted limit in a financial year, former Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar on Thursday demanded a White Paper on the State’s financial position and borrowings.
Addressing presspersons here, Mr. Shettar said the government has already raised funds to the tune of ₹1,500 crore through the release of government bonds. “Now they are in the process of raising loans to the tune of ₹80,000 crore, which exceeds the limit of borrowing in a fiscal,” Mr. Shettar said.
He alleged that the differences within the coalition government were because of a conflict between Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy and his predecessor and coalition coordination committee chairman Siddaramaiah. “At the fag end of his tenure, Mr. Siddaramaiah announced several populist schemes and now Mr. Kumaraswamy is finding it difficult to mobilise funds for them. That is the reason financial discipline has been ignored and indiscriminate borrowing is being attempted.”
Mr. Shettar said that according to information available with him, the borrowings of the State were likely to exceed ₹3 lakh crore. He also said that only 12 paise in a rupee spent by the government was going towards development works; the rest was meeting various expenses and loan repayment. “The financial position of the State government is at its worst,” he said.
‘HDK should resign’
Mr. Shettar also said that if Mr. Kumaraswamy was finding it difficult to run the government, he should stop the “drama” and resign.
When asked whether the BJP would move a no-confidence motion against the government in the coming budget session, Mr. Shettar said that any such decision would be taken by the party’s core committee after discussions with legislators.
To a query on the Gujarat government’s loans too nearing the ₹3 lakh-crore mark, Mr. Shettar said the issue was not about the extent of loans but about the way they were being raised, exceeding the limit.
On grants from the Centre for drought relief, he said that as the coalition partners were busy fighting among themselves, they have not pursued the issue and have failed to convince the Union government of the need for more funds.