'She's lying': CM Siddaramaiah hits out at Sitharaman on drought relief

Bengaluru: Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Sunday alleged that Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman lied when she said that the drought relief fund was not released because the Model Code of Conduct is in force.

Speaking to reporters on Saturday, Sitharaman sought to defend the Centre saying procedures to release funds had taken time by which time the MCC came into effect.

Siddaramaiah said the state had submitted its memorandum for drought in December and rued the fact that despite Karnataka having the second highest tax collections in the country, the union government did not release the relief amount to the state.

Deputy CM D K Shivakumar alleged that the Finance Minister had acknowledged that Karnataka had been facing “injustice” with regard to drought relief.

He made the comments after a meeting with Apartment Owners in Rajarajeshwarinagar in Bengaluru.

“Nirmala Sitharaman has said the announcement of elections delayed drought relief. What is the connection between elections and drought relief ? By saying this, she has admitted that drought relief is delayed and the Centre has done injustice.'' (PTI)