Leader of Opposition in Legislative Assembly R. Ashok.
Leader of the Opposition R. Ashok on Monday termed the ruling Congress government as “the most corrupt” and alleged that the number of backward taluks in the State had increased from 114 to 172 owing to corruption and poor financial management.
Speaking on the motion of thanks to the Governor’s address in the Legislative Assembly, Mr. Ashok said Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, who also holds the Finance portfolio, had presented 16 Budgets over the past three decades, yet regional imbalances had worsened. Citing the M. Govinda Rao Committee report on regional imbalances, he said the number of backward taluks should ideally have reduced to fewer than 100, especially in a State largely governed by the Congress.
The D.M. Najundappa committee on regional imbalances classified 114 taluks as backward in 2002.
Mr. Ashok alleged large-scale misuse of public funds, claiming that ₹5,000 crore meant for beneficiaries under the Gruha Lakshmi scheme for February–March 2025 had not been released. He also said about ₹667 crore earmarked for the Anna Bhagya scheme for January 2025 remained unpaid.
Referring to backward taluks in North Karnataka, he alleged that not a single contract had been awarded to contractors from Karnataka and claimed that contractors from Andhra Pradesh were favoured and commissions collected. Quoting the Karnataka Contractors’ Association, he alleged that corruption had doubled in various departments. He questioned why no cases had been registered against KSCA office-bearers if the government had not received commissions.
Mr. Ashok also cited recent incidents, including the Lokayukta police arresting a police officer while accepting a ₹4 lakh bribe in Bengaluru and a drug racket crackdown by the Maharashtra police in the city.
He opposed the State government’s decision to oppose the new rural job scheme of the Centre, noting that the government had passed 18 resolutions against the Centre, thereby straining Centre–State relations. He claimed that the S.M. Krishna-led government had not passed any such resolutions.
On Congress objections to the removal of Mahatma Gandhi’s name from the Viksit Bharat-Guarantee for Rozgar Ajeevika Mission (Gramin), which replaced MGNREGA, Mr. Ashok alleged that the Congress selectively named institutions after what he termed “nakli (fake) Gandhis.” including Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi, Sanjay Gandhi, and Rahul Gandhi. He claimed that over 445 institutions, parks, hospitals and playgrounds had been named after them.
Published – February 02, 2026 07:12 pm IST
