Karnataka Congress leaders wear flower behind ear on budget day. Siddaramaiah, the leader of the opposition, and other leaders of the opposition Congress party participated in an odd protest against the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party in Karnataka.
They wore flowers behind their ears and claimed that the BJP government had fooled the public and made them fools by breaking its promises from the previous budget and the 2018 manifesto.
Before the next state elections, which are set for May of this year, Chief Minister Basvaraj Bommai, who also holds the finance post, is delivering his second and final budget as head of government today.
Karnataka Congress leaders wear flower behind ear on budget day. Karnataka Congress calls it #KiviMeleHoova, meaning ‘flower on the ear’, which symbolically represents that someone has been fooled.
Siddaramaiah has frequently criticised Mr. Bommai’s administration, alleging that only a small percentage of the 600 pledges made in the party’s electoral platform have been kept.
The Chief Minister has said that the government will come out with an “action taken report” during the budget, regarding the fulfilment of the promises made by the ruling BJP, ahead of the 2018 assembly polls.
Mr. Bommai has claimed frequently in recent days that this would be a “pro-people” budget and that it would focus on initiatives that would increase support for the underprivileged, weaker groups, farmers, working classes, women, and youth, among others.
It’s a ‘revenue-surplus’ budget for 2023-24, Mr Bommai said.
“A record collection of ₹ 6,085 crore has been made under GST this month. Karnataka continues to be the state with the highest growth rate of 30 per cent in the GST tax collection,” Mr Bommai said last week.
