Mysuru: Blaming the Union Government of meting out a step-motherly treatment to Karnataka and saying that BJP leaders in the State are enacting a drama to attract Dalit voters, Chief Minister Siddharamaiah said that he would take an appropriate decision ‘at the right time’ regarding farm loan waiver.

He was speaking at ‘Kotta Maatu Ditta Sadhane’ and ‘Sarakari Soulabhya Vitarana Sambhrama’ a mega convention held at the Maharaja’s College Grounds yesterday.

The event was held to distribute entitlements to beneficiaries from eight districts of Mysuru Division comprising Mysuru, Mandya, Chamarajanagar, Kodagu, Udupi, Chikkamagaluru, Dakshina Kannada and Hassan districts.

The CM said that he would wait for a few days for the Union Government’s decision on farm loans and then announce the State’s stand. “The BJP has been stating that it would bring four lakh farmers to Bengaluru to impress upon the State Government to waive farm loans. Let its State President B.S. Yeddyurappa first convince Prime Minister Narendra Modi to waive farm loans. Modi’s predecessor Manmohan Singh had waived farm loans worth Rs. 72,000 crore,” Siddharamaiah said.

He said that the total loans taken by farmers in the State was Rs. 52,000 crore of which Rs. 42,000 crore was from nationalised banks, while Rs. 10,000 crore was from cooperative institutions. “I have been urging the Union Government to waive farm loans, but it continues to be indifferent to the State Government’s plea,” the CM said.

“All the BJP MPs and leaders from Karnataka had remained silent when I took an all-party delegation to meet the Prime Minister to apprise him of the drought and agricultural crises, and the imperativeness of loan waivers. This illustrated their hollowness,” Siddharamaiah charged.

“The Karnataka BJP leaders have resorted to theatrics to attract Dalit voters by visiting their house. Yeddyurappa and other leaders did not partake the food prepared in the Dalit’s house but ordered food from hotels. The BJP is anti-Dalit and backward classes,” he said. Chamarajanagar MP R. Dhruvanarayan said that the Union Government has not released a single rupee for programmes like Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana for road connectivity and Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana since three years.

The Union Government has adopted a step-motherly attitude towards Karnataka, he said. “While the State Government has announced Rs. 27,730 crore for development of SC/STs, the Union has earmarked only Rs. 65,000 crore for the whole country,” he said.

Former Union Minister Oscar Fernandes said that Karnataka is a model State and he compared Siddharamaiah to economist Chanakya for his programmes.

Ministers Dr. H.C. Mahadevappa, U.T. Khader, R. Roshan Baig, H. Anjaneya, A. Manju, MLAs Kalale N. Keshavamurthy, Vasu, Somashekar, Venkatesh and H.P. Manjunath were present.