Kumaraswamy, Karnataka Congress slam budget

Hitting out at the BJP-led NDA government, Karnataka Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy asked if the budget presented on Friday was prepared by the finance department or at the RSS headquarters.

Kumaraswamy termed the newly announced 'Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi' as Prime Minister Narendra Modi government's "cotton candy" to the distress hit farming community.

He said the "election budget" lacked clarity and need not be taken seriously as the new government that will come in after the election may present a fresh budget.

"If this budget is implemented, if at all they (BJP) come back to power again and form the government, under this scheme 59 lakh farmers of our state will get Rs 3,578 crore in one year," Kumaraswamy told reporters here.

"Our government in the state is waiving Rs 48,000 crore farm loan, it will cover 44 lakh farmer families," he added.

Kumaraswamy recalled how Modi had earlier described the Congress-Janata Dal (Secular) government's farm loan waiver scheme as a ...