The Aryavarth Express
Agency (Bengaluru): Addressing the allegations of appeasement, Karnataka’s Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar defended the government’s decision to allocate a portion of the budget to the Muslim community. Shivakumar raised the question of why the government shouldn’t allocate even 1% of its Rs 3.71 lakh crore budget to Muslims, particularly for schools and development, totaling Rs 3,000 crore.
Responding to the political controversy stirred by this allocation, Shivakumar accused the BJP of politicizing the issue. He highlighted that the Karnataka government has also earmarked funds for other communities, including Rs 200 crore for the Christian community’s development and Rs 100 crore for the protection and development of Waqf properties, along with announcing various grants.
Addressing the BJP and JD (S)’s plans to field a strong candidate against his brother, Shivakumar expressed confidence in the electorate’s support. He recalled his past electoral victories, including contests against former Prime Minister Deve Gowda and H.D. Kumaraswamy, and his win against Kumaraswamy’s wife Anita by a significant margin of 1.31 lakh votes.
Shivakumar emphasized that the voters support the Congress party and his brother Suresh, who he described not as a “Delhi MP” but as a grassroots-level worker. He confidently stated that regardless of the opposition’s candidate, the people would make a well-informed decision, having experienced the governance differences between Deve Gowda, Kumaraswamy, and himself.