Bylakuppe: The State Government is prepared for the implementation of Goods and Service Tax (GST) from July 1, said Chief Minister Siddharamaiah, here this morning.

Addressing mediapersons on his arrival at Bylakuppe, after paying his last respects to Parvathamma Rajkumar inBengaluru, he said that GST has been passed to have a  uniform tax system throughout the country and added that it was the UPA Government which had formulated the Bill and it was being implemented now.

Taking a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Siddharamaiah said that when Modi was the Gujarat  CM he had opposed the bill but now had made a ‘U’ turn.

When asked about the ban on cow slaughter, the CM said the Government was following the Act, which was passed in 1964 adding that he had asked the State Law Department to review the new Bill notified by the         Central Government.

Stating that new Bill would affect the agricultural sector and farmers, CM asked, “what would farmers do with the old cattle which is of no use to them?”

Yeddyurappa has no moral right

CM Siddharamaiah also took a dig at former Chief Minister B.S. Yedyurappa, for threatening to lay a siege on Vidhana Soudha  in case farmer loans were not waived by the State Government.

“Yedyurappa does not have the moral right to talk about farmers. When he was the Chef Minister in 2011 he had categorically rejected the opposition plea in the Council to waive the loans stating that he had no note printing machine,” he said.

CM Siddharamaiah said that out of Rs. 1,685 crore released by the Central Government, the State had already disbursed Rs. 1,200 crore to the farmers and added that Yeddyurappa had not raised the matter on loan waiver in the Parliament.

“I had written a letter to Centre seeking funds to clear half of the total loan amounting to Rs. 52,000 crore. But till date have not received an answer. The State Government has already cleared Rs. 10,000 crore,” he said.

When asked if he had any message for Dalai Lama, Siddaramaiah said, “Dalai Lama was an Ambassador of Peace.”

Earlier, Chief Minister Siddharamaiah arrived at Bylakuppe with Ministers H. Anjaneya and M.B. Patil, in a private helicopter at around 11.20 am. He was received by Bengaluru Development Authority Chairman and MLA K. Venkatesh and DC D. Randeep.  Later, he reached Periyapatna by road and laid foundation stones for various development works worth Rs. 200 crore in the town. The works include filling up of 133 lakes and 17 check dams through Cauvery river that passes through 79 villages, UGD works in the town, construction of a KSRTC Bus Depot and Food and Civil Supplies godown with a capacity of 5,000 tonnes.