Hours after swearing-in, Karnataka Cabinet approves 5 poll guarantees

Shubhadeep Choudhury

New Delhi, May 20

Five “guarantees” promised to voters in Karnataka by the Congress in its poll manifesto were given an “in-principle” approval in the first meeting of the newly formed state Cabinet held in Bengaluru on Saturday, hours after CM Siddaramaiah took oath of office and secrecy along with Deputy CM DK Shivakumar and eight ministers at Kanteerava Stadium.

The guarantees had found resonance with the people, particularly women, during the campaigning and played a key role in the Congress victory in the Assembly elections.

Earlier today, after Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot administered oath to the CM and his Cabinet, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi took the stage and announced that the five guarantees would be approved by the Cabinet today itself. “We don’t make false promises. We walk the talk,” he said at an event attended by a galaxy of Opposition leaders.

The estimated cost of the five schemes would be Rs 50,000 crore per annum, Siddaramaiah told reporters after the meeting. The amount is about one-sixth of Karnataka’s total annual budget of Rs 3.9 lakh crore. Noting that the government paid Rs 56,000 crore annually as loan repayment, Siddaramaiah said he did not think it would be impossible to raise Rs 50,000 crore a year “for our people”.

Siddaramaiah (75) earlier took oath as CM for the second term (first being 2013 to 2018) along with Shivakumar (61) as the Deputy CM. Eight legislators—G Parameshwara, KH Muniyappa, KJ George, MB Patil, Satish Jarkiholi, Priyank Kharge (AICC president M Mallikarjun Kharge’s son), Ramalinga Reddy and BZ Zameer Ahmed Khan—were sworn in as ministers.

The eight names were finalised after marathon meetings on Friday with Kharge later issuing a letter to Siddaramaiah mentioning the appointment of the eight ministers, a move the BJP said “undermined the authority of the CM”. Karnataka can have up to 34 ministers.

Kharge and other party strategists considered caste equations in finalising the names. Parameshwara is ex-Deputy CM and a senior SC leader. Muniyappa and Priyank also represent SCs, Patil is a Lingayat, Jarkiholi a tribal, Khan and George represent the minorities and Reddy is from influential Reddy community. The CM hails from the OBC Kuruba community and Shivakumar is a Vokkaliga.

The swearing in was attended by several non-BJP leaders in a show of Opposition strength. CMs MK Stalin (Tamil Nadu), Hemant Soren (Jharkhand), Nitish Kumar (Bihar), RJD’s Tejashwi Yadav, NCP’s Sharad Pawar, National Conference’s Farooq Abdullah, PDP’s Mehbooba Mufti, CPM’s Sitaram Yechury, CPI’s D Raja, RLD’s Jayant Chaudhary and RSP’s NK Premchandran were among the Opposition leaders present. The BJD, AAP, YSRCP, BRS and the BSP were among the non-BJP parties not invited by the Congress.

Five promises

• Gruha Jyoti: 200 units of free power to all households
• Gruha Lakshmi: Rs 2,000 monthly assistance to the woman head of every family
• Anna Bhagya: 10 kg of free rice to every member of a BPL household
• Yuva Nidhi: Monthly Rs 3,000 to unemployed graduates and Rs 1,500 for diploma holders (in 18-25 age group) for two years
• Shakti: Free travel for women in public transport buses

Annual cost

• Rs 50,000 crore annual cost of five guarantees
• Rs 3.9 lakh crore Karnataka’s annual budget