A file photo of R. Ashok, Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Assembly, speaking at the Legislative Council in Bengaluru.
Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Assembly R. Ashok on Tuesday claimed that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s “indiscriminate borrowing” had resulted in every individual in Karnataka having a loan burden of ₹1,12,400.
With a total borrowing of ₹4.36 lakh crore during his earlier and present stint, Mr. Siddaramaiah would account for 52.23% of the State’s total debt, Mr. Ashok alleged, while participating in a debate on demand for grants for various departments under the State Budget.
Earlier CMs
Despite the compulsion to borrow during the COVID period, the then BJP Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa’s borrowing of ₹1.63 lakh crore had accounted for 19.61%, while ₹1.01 lakh crore borrowings of former Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy accounted for 12.15% and ₹67,000 crore borrowing of Basavaraj Bommai had accounted for 8.03%, he claimed.
The three years’ borrowings since the Congress returned to power in 2023 itself accounted for ₹2.46 lakh crore, which would translate into ₹227 crore a day and ₹9.5 crore an hour, he pointed out.
The huge borrowings had resulted in the State being made to pay huge repayment of ₹45,600 crore a year that would translate into ₹125 crore a day and ₹5.2 crore an hour, he pointed out.
Over the years
The loan burden of each individual in Karnataka that had stood at ₹19,000 in 2013 before Mr. Siddaramaiah became the Chief Minister for the first time, had increased to ₹37,000 when Mr. Siddaramaiah stepped down. This burden, which stood at ₹76,100 in 2023 before Mr. Siddaramaiah became the Chief Minister for the second time, had now increased to ₹1,12,400 by March 2026, he said.
This had pushed the State to the verge of “financial bankruptcy” as the State was spending heavily at a rate of more than ₹5 crore an hour to service the debts rather than create new assets or look into the welfare of its citizens.
Mr. Ashok pointed out that though the government had earmarked about ₹43,000 crore for SCP/ TSP for the welfare of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes respectively, around ₹13,000 crore will be utilised to fund guarantees, and around ₹30,000 crore will be left for the welfare of the SC/ STs. “Money is being diverted to wildlife conservation, construction of buildings and even formulating IT policy. How is wildlife connected to SC welfare?” he asked.
Quoting from figures upto January 27 for the current fiscal, he said that though ₹29,872 crore had been allocated to SC welfare, only ₹16,699 crore had been released, of which ₹15,391 crore had been spent. Of the ₹11,900 crore earmarked for tribal welfare, ₹6,521 crore has been released, of which ₹6,002 crore has been spent. He listed out categories of workers who have not been paid salaries for several months.
Published – March 10, 2026 07:26 pm IST
