"Parallel Government": BJP Criticises Siddaramaiah's Move To Form Congress Committees For Implementation Of Election Guarantees

Karnataka Congress plans to nominate party workers to monitor the implementation of five guarantee schemes of Anna Bhagya, Shakti, Gruha Jyothi, Gruha Lakshmi, and Yuva Nidhi, that the party promised ahead of the assembly elections.

Three-tier committees will be constituted by the Siddaramaiah government which will work at the state, district, and assembly constituency levels, The Hindu reported.

While the reported aim for this move is to contain the unrest among Congress workers, the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is criticising it.

BJP MP from Bengaluru South, Tejasvi Surya said, "Government's decision to create a machinery of Cabinet ranked middle-men to oversee its financially disastrous Guarantees is astounding."

He then questioned, "What will ministers do? Why have a parallel Government to monitor government schemes? Which is the real Government and which is the mafia?"

The Congress also plans to give the state cabinet rank status and benefits to the president of the state committee and the rank of the Minister of State to the vice presidents.

Along with 31 members and a president, the said committee will have five vice presidents. The district-level committee will have a president, a vice-president, and 21 members, CM Siddaramaih said on Wednesday (10 January).

The plan is to give an honorary allowance of Rs 50,000 per month to district-level president. The allowance for the assembly constituency-level committee's president is planned to be Rs 20,000 per month.

Along with the president, this committee will have a vice-president, and 11 members. All committee members would be given a sitting fee. The CM further said that no MLAs and MLCs would be appointed to these committees.