DK Shivakumar invites Mahayuti leaders to Karnataka to see guarantees’ execution

Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar on Saturday challenged the leaders of the Mahayuti alliance in Maharashtra to visit Karnataka and witness the implementation of the five guarantee schemes implemented by the Congress government in the southern state. He also offered to organise special flights and vehicles for their visit.
The Mahayuti alliance comprises the BJP, Shiv Sena led by Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar’s NCP.
“I go every day to campaign there (Maharashtra). They are claiming that we have not implemented the guarantee schemes here (in Karnataka). I have openly challenged them to come to Karnataka and see how we have implemented the guarantee schemes. If they require, I will arrange vehicles for their visit. We are even ready to organise special flights if their leaders, including the Deputy Chief Minister and other ministers, want to visit the state,” Shivakumar told reporters in Bengaluru.
Last week, DK Shivakumar said he would arrange chartered flights and buses for the leaders of the Mahayuti alliance to visit Karnataka and get first-hand information about the government’s guarantee schemes.
The Karnataka government, under the leadership of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, has implemented a set of welfare schemes known as the ‘five guarantees’. The schemes are – Gruha Lakshmi (monthly cash support of Rs 2,000 to every women head of household), Gruha Jyothi (free electricity upto 200 units), Anna Bhagya (providing 10 kg of grain per person per month), Shakti (free bus travel for all women in Karnataka) and Yuva Nidhi (monthly stipends for graduates, diploma holders.
These welfare schemes, a major poll sop by the Congress in the 2023 Assembly polls, played a pivotal role in the grand old party’s victory in Karnataka.
Shivakumar’s remarks on Saturday came amid a row over Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge advising his party’s state units to make only those promises that are “fiscally doable” in comments that were seen as towards Congress-ruled states, including Karnataka.
In an exclusive interview with India Today TV on Monday, Siddaramaiah admitted that the five guarantees were causing a burden on the state exchequer, but made it clear that the initiatives would not stop and go on for five years.
“In our 2024-25 budget, we earmarked 1.20 crore for development works. Out of that, Rs 56,000 crore has been allocated for the guarantees and more than Rs 60,000 crore for development works. Naturally, it will be a burden on the state exchequer. But, we are managing without stopping the development works, and we are meeting all expenditures,” he had said.
“(PM) Narendra Modi ji himself made a statement in Rajasthan that if these guarantees are implemented, Karnataka government will become bankrupt and there will be no money for development works. That is what he said. We came to power in May 2023 and we have implemented all the guarantee schemes in full,” he had added.
Asked about Kharge’s remark on freebies, Siddaramaiah claimed that his statement was misconstrued.