Bengaluru: The clash between the Congress and the Janata Dal (S) on the issue of the budget, has prompted Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy to pay a visit to AICC President Rahul Gandhi today, i.e., June 18.
The two parties met for about half an hour behind closed doors at Gandhi’s Tughlak Lane residence in New Delhi, where the issue of the farm loan waiver was also brought up.
CM HDK has, however, clarified that the meeting was just a courtesy and several state issues were discussed. He also said that the Congress chief had extended full support to the coalition government, adding that they discussed various ideas on the development of the state.
The CM said that Rahul Gandhi had promised full support for the success of the coalition government in the state.”
Reportedly, the chief minister also brought up the possibility of using cabinet expansion as a solution to control dissidence within the Congress party. “It is up to the Congress party to discuss and decide on a solution to problems within its organisation”, HDK said about the filling of vacancies. Sources within the Congress hinted that four out of the six vacancies would be filled within two weeks.
At the first coordination committee meeting held earlier, former chief minister Siddaramaiah and other Congress leaders had raised serious doubts about the fiscal position of the state to absorb the cost of farm loan waiver. They had also proposed to hold a supplementary budget instead of a full-fledged one.
However, Kumaraswamy was adamant about fulfilling the promises made during the elections that included farm loan waiver in the new budget. The CM also told media that he would present the new budget in July. Moreover, on June 17, he had requested the union government to provide half of the burden of farm loan waiver.
