Mangaluru, Dec 4: Rubbishing the charge of ‘minority appeasement’, former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has said that funds given to Muslims by his government in Karnataka were less compared to the population the community.
He was speaking at “Connect 2018”, a community get-together organised jointly by the Sunni Students Federation, the Karnataka Cultural Foundation and the Sunni Yuvajana Sangha at Nehru Maidan on Monday.
Siddaramaiah said that it was wrong to allege that his government had favoured only one community by granting more funds. He said that the grant of funds to Muslims and other minority communities under various schemes was based on the Constitution that mandates equal treatment of all castes and communities.
When he took charge as Chief Minister, Mr. Siddaramaih said, grants for minorities were at too less. He raised it to Rs. 3,100 crore. “If you bring me back to power, I will further raise this to Rs. 10,000 crore,” he said and added that he will never regret his actions.
“My actions were as per the Constitution and not to appease any community and get votes,” Mr. Siddaramaiah said and added that his actions were being falsely projected as one to appease a particular community.
“The grants were based on this logic. Actually, funds given by my government is less compared to their (Muslims) population,” he added.
The Congress leader said that the Bharatiya Janata Party was raising the issue of building the Ram Temple in Ayodhya only with the intention of winning the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections as the Prime Minister Narendra Modi led government has failed in all areas.
Urging people not to fall prey to the tactics of the BJP, he said that the people should vote for those who protect the Constitution and those who work for peace and harmonious living in society.
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