Guarantee schemes will continue as long as Congress is in power: DCM DK Shivakumar

Chikmagalur (Bengaluru) [Karnataka], March 3 : Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar on Sunday reiterated that all the guarantee schemes would continue as long as the Congress government was in power in the State.
Speaking after inaugurating various developmental works in the district, he said, "Congress party fights against poverty and not against the poor. No one can remove the guarantee schemes as long as Congress is in power."
"Many of the BJP leaders admit that the guarantee schemes are a boon to the people. Karkala MLA and former BJP minister lauded the guarantee schemes saying it was making the lives of people better. While some other MLAs like Araga Jnanedra have criticised the scheme," he said.
"The people of Karnataka believe in the guarantee schemes. If the Opposition parties have the courage, let them call upon their party workers to give up the guarantee scheme benefits. We will see how many of their own party men give up the benefits," he challenged.
"Under the Bhadra irrigation project, 1.5 TMC of water has been earmarked for Chikmagalur and Kadur taluks. As many as 244 tanks would be supplied water at the cost of Rs 1,281 crores. The work is in progress. The works on providing water to 49,000 acres in Tarikere taluk are nearing completion at a cost of Rs 812 crores. Works on drip irrigation for 72,000 hectares in Kadur taluk is in progress at a cost of Rs 600 crore. The tender will be called for the project under Bhadra stage 3 and 4 to provide water to 70 tanks will be issued by July. Siddaramaiah government is always there for the farmers. The Centre said it would give Rs 5,300 crore for the Upper Bhadra project but it has not released even a single rupee," he said.
"The BJP-JDS alliance faced a humiliating defeat in the Rajya Sabha election in spite of their attempts to buy our MLAs. BJP State President Vijayendra says he has not called any Congress MLA, but our leader Shyamanur Shivashankarappa said both Kumaraswamy and Yediyurappa called him. I have a long list of MLAs they called and I will release it in the days to come," he said.
"All of you have voted for politics of livelihood rather than politics of emotions. Veerendra Heggade of Dharmasthala has written a letter to the government saying devotees visiting the temple has gone up significantly and so are the revenues of the temple after the guarantee schemes. I come to Hasanambe temple every year. Last year Hundi collections was Rs 2.5 crore and it has gone up to 8.5 crore," he said.
"The people of the constituency are smart and they can differentiate between good politics and bad politics. Has Yediyurappa implemented even a single scheme like the guarantee schemes. The people of the constituency have reposed faith in us and we are repaying that debt. I call upon the people of the district to support Congress once again in the upcoming general elections," he said.