On Wednesday, Congress legislators are expected to stage a protest in Karnataka as well over the lack of allocations for the state in the Union Budget.

In a post on X, Siddaramaiah said, “Despite my earnest efforts in calling for an all-party MPs meeting in New Delhi to discuss Karnataka’s essential needs, the Union Budget has neglected our state’s demands. Finance Minister @nsitharaman, who also attended the meeting, has ignored the concerns of the people of Karnataka. We don’t feel Kannadigas are heard, and hence there is no point in attending the NITI Aayog meeting”.

“Even our farmers’ demands to approve Mekedatu and Mahadayi have been ignored. There was no attempt to rectify their sin of reducing funds to our state under various categories. Funds for metro and other infra projects are still a distant dream,” he said.

“@narendramodi is unable to see states other than Andhra Pradesh and Bihar because his eyes are on the position of Prime Minister. His agenda is exposed in front of the people. We hope the people of our state stand with us in our fight for justice,” he added.

The Karnataka CM pointed out that in her previous Budget Sitharaman announced Rs 5,300 crore for the Upper Bhadra irrigation project but no money has been provided for this project as yet even in the new budget. He said they requested Rs 5,000 crore for the comprehensive development of Kalyan Karnataka, along with that for providing grants for backward taluks but these requests have been ignored in the budget.

ಕರ್ನಾಟಕದಿಂದಲೇ ಆಯ್ಕೆಯಾಗಿ ಹೋಗಿರುವ ಕೇಂದ್ರ ಸರ್ಕಾರದ ಹಣಕಾಸು ಸಚಿವೆ @nsitharaman ಅವರೂ ಸೇರಿದಂತೆ ರಾಜ್ಯದ ಸಂಸದರೆಲ್ಲರ ಸಭೆ ಕರೆದು ರಾಜ್ಯದ ಅತ್ಯವಶ್ಯಕ ಬೇಡಿಕೆಗಳನ್ನು ಮುಂದಿಟ್ಟು ಮನವರಿಕೆ ಮಾಡಿಕೊಟ್ಟಿದ್ದರೂ ಇಂದು ಮಂಡಿಸಲಾಗಿರುವ ಕೇಂದ್ರ @BJP4India ಸರ್ಕಾರದ ಬಜೆಟ್ ನಲ್ಲಿ ಕರ್ನಾಟಕವನ್ನು ಸಂಪೂರ್ಣವಾಗಿ ಕಡೆಗಣಿಸಲಾಗಿದೆ.…

— Siddaramaiah (@siddaramaiah) July 23, 2024

“As per the recommendation of the 15th Finance Commission, a total of Rs 11,485 crore has been allocated for the construction of peripheral roads, development of lakes, and Bangalore urban development projects. Besides, there has been a demand for setting up of AIIMS in Raichur for several years and this demand was also made in the pre-budget meeting. The central government has not acknowledged any of these requests,” Siddaramaiah said.

A proposed industrial corridor between Hyderabad and Bangalore will remain a declaration on the lines of previous announcements for which funds were not allotted, he said.

“This budget is anti-people and has completely neglected the poor, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in particular. A big injustice has been done to the farmers in this budget. Farmers have been demanding the creation of the Minimum Support Price Act for five years. But there is no mention of this in the budget,” Siddaramaiah said.

“Although there are five ministers of the state in the Central cabinet, there is no benefit to the state from their presence in the cabinet,” he said.

Grants announced in the interim budget presented by the finance minister in February for health, defence, healthcare, IT and communication sectors have now been cut, he added. “The 16th Finance Commission of the Centre will visit the state on August 28. It will be requested to rectify the injustice done to the state in the past,” Siddaramaiah said.