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Basavaraj Raya Reddy, an MLA and economic adviser to Siddaramaiah, was addressing an inauguration event in Yelburga on Saturday when he hinted at financial constraints.
Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah | File Image: PTI
The Congress-led Karnataka government has landed in a controversy after the party MLA and close aide of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah sparked fresh political slugfest with his remark where he asked the public to choose between government welfare schemes and developmental work like road construction.
Basavaraj Raya Reddy, an MLA and economic adviser to Siddaramaiah, was addressing an inauguration event in Yelburga on Saturday when he hinted at financial constraints and suggested that people should choose between guarantees or developmental work.
“Say I don’t want rice or anything, if you say, “only build village roads”, we will do that too. I will suggest Siddaramaiah stop it as people are asking us to, should I tell him?” he was heard saying in Kannada as reported by several media reports.
“If you want an asphalt road or a school, understand that everything can’t be done at once. You need to make it clear, say you don’t want these other benefits, stop all that. If you ask us to build roads, we will build roads. If you say, “build temples”, we’ll build only temples. It is because we must manage everything with the funds available,” he added.
Reddy’s comments have triggered a political storm as they come at a time when Siddaramaiah is facing a litmus test with his own MLAs raising corruption and administrative concerns. The statement also refilled the opposition arsenal after their demands for Siddaramaiah to resign in the aftermath of the Bengaluru stampede
BJP Hits Out At Congress
The opposition BJP soon seized on Reddy’s comments and slammed the Congress government for not fulfilling the people’s needs.
The party’s state unit X handle slammed the MLA’s comments and accused the Congress government of misleading the public.
“The @INCKarnataka government, which was boasting that guarantees have not hindered development, what does it have to say about Rayareddy’s statement? By saying, “Do you want roads for villages? If so, give it in writing that you don’t want guarantees,” CM’s economic advisor and senior Congress MLA Basavaraj Rayareddy has directly admitted that the guarantee scheme is stunting development. Those who were shouting that it’s free for Mahadevappa and free for Kaka Patil are now part of the bill. No guarantee has been properly implemented in the state, and development has become a pipe dream for the people of the state. Even the ruling party’s own MLAs have given a thumbs-down to the Congress party’s governance approach,” it said in the X post.
ಗ್ಯಾರಂಟಿಯಿಂದ ಅಭಿವೃದ್ಧಿಗೆ ತೊಂದರೆ ಆಗಿಲ್ಲವೆಂದು ಬಡಾಯಿ ಕೊಚ್ಚಿಕೊಂಡು ಬರುತ್ತಿದ್ದ @INCKarnataka ಸರ್ಕಾರ ರಾಯರೆಡ್ಡಿ ಹೇಳಿಕೆಗೆ ಏನು ಹೇಳುತ್ತದೆ ?ಹಳ್ಳಿಗಳಿಗೆ ರಸ್ತೆ ಬೇಕಾ? ಹಾಗಾದ್ರೆ ಗ್ಯಾರಂಟಿ ಬೇಡ ಎಂದು ಬರೆದುಕೊಡಿ ಎಂದು ಹೇಳುವ ಮೂಲಕ ಗ್ಯಾರಂಟಿ ಯೋಜನೆಯಿಂದ ಅಭಿವೃದ್ಧಿ ಕುಂಠಿತವಾಗುತ್ತಿದೆ ಎಂದು ಸಿಎಂ ಅರ್ಥಿಕ ಸಲಹೆಗಾರರು,… pic.twitter.com/MDGxwzVuNL
— BJP Karnataka (@BJP4Karnataka) July 6, 2025
Basangouda Patil Yatnal, recently expelled BJP MLA, called the statement “reckless” and accused the Congress government of misleading the public.
“Freebie politics will not only deprive people of basic infrastructure but also increase the prices of essential services. The electorate must reject freebie politics and vote for development, education, jobs, law and order, and the welfare of the people,” he said.
Shobhit Gupta is a sub-editor at News18.com and covers India and International news. He is interested in day to day political affairs in India and geopolitics. He earned his BA Journalism (Hons) degree from Ben…Read More
Shobhit Gupta is a sub-editor at News18.com and covers India and International news. He is interested in day to day political affairs in India and geopolitics. He earned his BA Journalism (Hons) degree from Ben… Read More
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