Row sparked as Lord Swaminarayan idol is dressed up in RSS uniform

Mangaluru, May 20: The local unit of Bharatiya Janata Party has defended the delay in repatriation of coastal Kannadigas from Middle Eastern countries saying that it is impossible to bring all expatriate together at a time when covid-19 cases are continuing to spike in the region. 

Addressing a press conference, Sudarshan M, president of Dakshina Kannada unit of BJP said that the entire district administration was working as a team under the leadership local MP Nalin Kumar Kateel and district minister Kota Shrinivas Poojary and seven BJP MLAs in this critical juncture.

“Without any bias, we also have reached out to the needs of people of Mangaluru assembly constituency represented by former minister and Congress MLA U T Khader,” he said, adding that his party will not forget Indian expatriates in the Gulf too. 

Replying to the charge of not catering to the interests of Kannadigas stranded in the Middle East by way of arranging special flights, Sudarshan said this is part of a well-thought-out move to bring them in batches.

“It is impossible to bring back all Kannadigas stranded in Middle East all of a sudden. Their repatriation will be in phased manner based on facilities available in the district,” he said.

“The district authorities have created healthcare and quarantine facilities for a limited number, be it at Covid-19 hospital or institutional quarantine, and bringing them together will create logistical problems,” he said.

Mysuru, Jan 27: Chief minister BS Yediyurappa on Sunday refused to field questions on the state’s finances, merely saying his budget on March 5 will do the talking. The question came in the wake of Siddaramaiah, leader of the opposition, claiming recently that the state’s coffers were dry and its finances were in the doldrums.

However, Yediyurappa insisted the state’s finances were sound and it will be better once promises made by the business community during his trip to Davos turn into concrete investment.

“I will present the budget for 2020-21 on March 5. People will then know about the state’s financial position,” Yediyurappa said during a visit to Suttur Mutt on Sunday. “I will answer Siddaramaiah’s comments during the forthcoming budget session of the state legislature. The Davos meet I attended will benefit the state immensely. It will bring huge investments that will promote industry and agriculture growth and various job-generation activities.”

Bengaluru, Jan 6: Chief minister BS Yediyurappa has plenty on his plate ahead of the 2020-21 state budget to be presented on March 5 what with the economic slowdown and a sizeable shortfall in revenue, but the biggest worry is the uncertainty surrounding Goods and Services Tax (GST) compensation from the Centre.

There is also uncertainty over the state’s share under devolution of funds as per the 14th Finance Commission recommendation.

Finance department officials say that while Rs 3,500 crore is expected as GST compensation for every two months, the devolution of funds would have yielded about Rs 7,000 crore for the current fiscal. But the economic slowdown appears to have hit the Centre’s finances and is likely to impact the state’s share of funds.

“The GST payment for August-September came only in December and we are unsure how much we will get for October-November and December-January,” an official said. Estimates suggest the state’s share under devolution of funds could be reduced by half.

At a meeting of finance department officials last week, Yediyurappa is said to have admitted that unlike those states where non-BJP parties are in power — they have threatened agitations and court cases — the government cannot go “against” Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s regime.

Instead, Yediyurappa has urged senior IAS finance department officials to lobby for funds with their counterparts in New Delhi. On his part, Yediyurappa is said to have already written to Modi and finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman to at least release the state’s share of GST compensation for the current calendar year of 2019. He is planning to personally meet the PM in Delhi to push the state’s case.