BENGALURU/NEW DELHI: Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah on Friday presented his record 16th budget, allocating Rs 4,535 crore for minority welfare programmes – an increase of 33% over Rs 3,409 crore last year – igniting a political firestorm with BJP branding it ‘halal budget’ and accusing Congress govt of practising “appeasement” politics.
However, a big takeaway from the budget, with a total outlay of over Rs 4 lakh crore, was a massive increase in capital expenditure by 25%, compared to just 2% last year. Within capital expenditure, the two biggest increases are in public works (187%) and urban development (173%). The CM made a specific mention of Bengaluru, saying the yearly grant of Rs 3,000 crore being provided to the city will be enhanced to Rs 7,000 crore.
The state economic survey released Friday estimates that Karnataka will grow by 7.4% this fiscal, higher than India’s growth of 6.4%. Agriculture has made a sharp turnaround because of good rains. Services grew by 8.9%, higher than the 7.9% in the previous fiscal. This was led by IT-related services that grew by 11.1%, up from 10.2% in 2023-24. Despite the significantly higher capital allocations, Siddaramaiah has managed to keep the fiscal deficit at 2.95% of state GDP, just below the limit mandated under Karnataka Fiscal Responsibility Act.
Among the schemes for minorities in the budget is the revival of ‘Shaadi Bhagya’ in a new avatar – which entails a dole of Rs 50,000 to each eligible couple from economically weaker sections – and introduction of reservation for Muslims in govt contracts up to Rs 2 crore. Waqf minister BZ Zameer Khan justified minorities welfare schemes, saying the allocation was “minimal”.
BJP spokesperson Anil Antony slammed the quota provided to minorities, saying it is unconstitutional and a huge deviation from the principles of Dr B R Ambedkar, who strongly opposed reservations based on religious grounds. “Congress is now disregarding its past credentials and is evolving into a modern version of Jinnah’s Muslim League,” he added. Antony cited provisions in the budget, including Rs 6,000 per month for imams, Rs 150 crore for development of waqf properties, reinstatement of the scrapped 4% Muslim quota and 4% reservation in every govt contract worth up to Rs 2 crore. State BJP unit posted on social media, “Scam CM Siddaramaiah in Karnataka presents a halal budget – appeasement at its peak.”
